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Historical figureSouth Africa1942-1993

Chris Hani

General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (1991-1993) · Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe (1987-1992)

South African communist and guerrilla commander who led the South African Communist Party and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and whose assassination in 1993 brought the country close to civil unrest.

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Profile on 12 axes7 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Chris Hani, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-80
    PublicPrivate

    Scored from his lifelong membership of the South African Communist Party and his Marxist commitments; the pages checked do not spell out an economic program in his own words.

  2. 02Markets-70
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-70
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority-30
    DemocraticStrong leader

    The party he led committed in 1990 to multi-party democracy, which pulls this axis toward democratic. His own words on it were not checked, so the score is a judgment call.

  5. 05Security-10
    LibertyOrder

    He chose armed struggle against apartheid but also wanted a democratic settlement. The score sits near the middle.

  6. 06StructureNo clear record
    LocalCentral
  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08ReligionNo clear record
    SecularReligious
  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture-70
    MulticulturalNational identity

    The biography says Marxist ideas strengthened his non-racial outlook.

  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy-40
    CooperationStrength

5 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Chris Hani?

Chris Hani was born on 28 June 1942 in Sabalele, in the Transkei. He joined the ANC Youth League in 1957, the underground South African Communist Party in 1961 and Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1962. After training abroad, he fought in the 1967 Wankie campaign alongside Zimbabwean guerrillas and was held in Botswana. He rose to the ANC executive in 1982 and became MK Chief of Staff in 1987. After the movements were unbanned in 1990, he became SACP General Secretary in 1991. A gunman killed him on 10 April 1993.

Political views

  • He was exposed to Marxist ideas at Fort Hare, which the biography says deepened his non-racial outlook.Source: sahistory.org.za
  • He joined the underground South African Communist Party in 1961 and uMkhonto weSizwe in 1962, then left the country for military training.Source: sahistory.org.za
  • In 1967 he served as a political commissar with ZIPRA and fought in the Wankie campaign; he was arrested in Botswana later that year and held for two years.Source: sahistory.org.za
  • After the February 1990 unbanning he returned to campaign in the townships, became SACP General Secretary in 1991 and stepped down as MK Chief of Staff in 1992 to concentrate on the party.Source: sahistory.org.za
  • He wanted to make the SACP a national party able to rival the ANC in the 1994 elections.Source: sahistory.org.za
  • The SACP he went on to lead had committed, in January 1990, to a multi-party post-apartheid democracy with freedom of speech and organization and one-person, one-vote elections.Source: sahistory.org.za

Legacy

Admirers remember Hani as a senior figure of the liberation movement, a commander who argued for a socialist, non-racial South Africa. Critics, including defenders of apartheid, objected to his Marxism and his role in the armed struggle. On 10 April 1993 he was shot at his home in Boksburg by Janusz Walus, an anti-communist Polish refugee linked to the AWB; the Conservative Party MP Clive Derby-Lewis was also convicted. Their death sentences were commuted to life. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that right-wing extremists had killed him. His death helped push negotiators to set a date for the first democratic election.

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Chris Hani: questions

Was Chris Hani a communist?

Yes. He joined the underground South African Communist Party in 1961 and became its General Secretary in 1991. He was also a senior ANC figure.

Who killed Chris Hani?

Janusz Walus, an anti-communist Polish refugee, shot him on 10 April 1993 at his home in Boksburg. Clive Derby-Lewis, a Conservative Party MP, was also convicted. Both death sentences were commuted to life.

Sources