Origins & Early Life

Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993; born Martin Thembisile Hani ) was a South African military commander, politician and revolutionary. He served as the leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the former armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce opponent of apartheid, and was assassinated by Janusz Waluś, a Polish immigrant and sympathiser of the Conservative opposition on 10 April 1993, during the unrest preceding the transition to democracy. Martin Thembisile Hani was born on 28 June 1942 in the Xhosa village in Cofimvaba, Transkei.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His father, Gilbert Hani, was a mine union worker and political activist who left the country to go into exile in 1962 and returned to South Africa in 1991. His mother, Mary Hani, had never attended school. Chris was the fifth of six children. He attended Lovedale school in 1957, to finish his last two years. He twice finished two school grades in a single year.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

When Hani was 12 years old, after hearing his father's explanations about apartheid and the African National Congress (ANC), he wished to join the ANC but was still too young to...

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