admin“We don’t want this to happen again,” Nzimande said at the wreath-laying ceremony for Hani at the Thomas Titus Nkobi Memorial Park in Elspark, east of Johannesburg.
Hani, who was SACP general secretary and chief of staff of the ANC’s military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was assassinated outside his house in Boksburg on April 10 1993.
ANC, the SACP and Cosatu commemorated the 20th anniversary of Hani’s death yesterday.
Nzimande lashed out at the media for its reporting on Hani.
“The media is praising Comrade Chris, (yet) this is the same media that was demonising him when he died,” he said to loud applause.
“They are praising him today because he is dead. They do it to condemn the current leadership of the SACP,” said Nzimande.
Hani was shot dead by Polish assassin Janusz Walus with a gun arranged by right-winger Clive Derby-Lewis.
They were both sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life in prison when the death penalty was abolished.
“Parole should not be considered until (Derby-Lewis) tells the nation who he collaborated with in the assassination of Hani,” Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) spokesperson Khaya Xaba said in a statement earlier yesterday.
The Young Communist League of SA has called on President Jacob Zuma to reopen the inquest into the death of slain SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani.
Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hani’s assassination yesterday, the YCLSA also said Hani’s killers should not be granted parole.
It was reported this week that the 77-year-old Derby-Lewis, who has been diagnosed with hypertension and cancer, has been denied medical parole. He was also denied medical parole in 2011.
The “born frees” refers to those South Africans born since the demise of apartheid.
Congress of SA Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said that the best way to honour the memory of Cde Chris Hani is to ensure his ideals live on and his sacrifices were not in vain.
“On one hand we join his family . . . to share their pain, which we know is much deeper than we can ever understand,” Vavi said at a wreath-laying ceremony at Hani’s grave in the Thomas Titus Nkobi Memorial Park.
“On the other hand we are returning here to once again make a proclamation that we will not allow Chris Hani to die.”
Vavi said Hani continued to inspire.
“They killed the Che Guevara of Africa and robbed the poor and workers of a potent weapon,” said Vavi.
He said Hani had been the most loyal and active cadre and was an independent thinker.
“(His) life epitomised the principle of selflessness.
“He was prepared to sacrifice all for what he believed in,” said Vavi.
He said Hani would have been appalled by the scale of greed and crass materialism of the “new clique of tenderpreneurs” and those who saw access to political office as a ladder to personal wealth.
“He would never have tolerated the levels of corruption, fraud and squandering of public resources, and (would have) been absolutely devastated at the assassination of political rivals over the spoils of office, and the factional battles and disunity that this has unleashed,” Vavi said. — Sapa.
Online Reporter