Chris Hani – Fighter for the Workers and the Poor
Extracts from The African Communist Editorial Notes (1st Quarter 1993)
The assassination of the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Chris Hani, shortly after 10:00 on 10 April 1993, dealt a terrible blow to the Party, the national liberation movement and the country. He had emerged in the months prior to his death, according to even the opponents of the Party, the second most popular politician in the country, after Nelson Mandela.
But the shots that killed Chris Hani, unwittingly mobilised a huge army of liberation across the face of the country. On Wednesday, 14 April and Monday 19 April 1993, the day of the funeral, 4 million workers stayed away. These were the two largest stayaways in the history of the struggle. In addition to employed workers, millions of students and unemployed also observed the two days. These were not just passive stayaways. An estimated 2,5 million people took part in thousands of pickets, rallies, marches and services throughout South Africa on Wednesday 14 April 1993. The funeral itself, was the largest funeral in the country’s history.
It was not just the immediate SACP and African National Congress-led alliance constituency that was mobilised. Tens of thousands of South Africans (and people all the world) expressed their outrage at the killing. Church people, the Chief Rabbi, Islamic and Hindu religious figures stood up publicly to condemn the assassinat
