Hani was the leader of South African Communist Party and the Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, and a fierce opponent of the apartheid government, until he was shot dead at his house in Dawn Park, on April 10, 1993.
Today he remains an integral part of South Africa’s political history, particularly of Ekurhuleni.
The metro’s efforts to create the hype in commemorating and preserving the political fibre, as was embodied by this struggle stalwart, are currently underway.
Forty-five of Ekurhuleni’s libraries are running photographic exhibitions to commemorate Chris Hani Month, while essay and drawing competitions for primary school learners, portraying the life and times of Hani, are set to run until the end of April.
In continuing with narrating the life and times of Hani, the metro is also set to convene a memorial lecture on Friday, April 8, at the Boksburg Civic Centre, to be presented by a notable speaker with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the stalwart.
Meanwhile, high school and primary school learners from across the Ekurhuleni region will converge at the Boksburg Civic Centre on Saturday, April 9, to battle it out with learners from the Chris Hani Municipality, in the Eastern Cape, in heated debate sessions.
The bone of contention is set to be centred around Hani’s leadership traits, the efforts he made for the economic emancipation of South Africans and his contribution towards fighting the scourge of racism.
On Sunday, April 10, President Jacob Zuma is expected to join the Hani family, together with the City of Ekurhuleni, to observe the anniversary of the passing of Hani through a wreath-laying ceremony, set to take place at the Thomas Titus Nkobi Cemetery, in Boksburg. Hani’s gravesite was declared a National Heritage Site by President Jacob Zuma in 2015.
Furthermore, the metro will, in continuing to uphold Hani’s ideals, carry on providing primary health services to its citizenry by officially handing over a brand new clinic to the community of Villa Liza, on the morning of April 10.
To conclude the month-long Chris Hani Month celebrations, a groundbreaking one-hour long theatre production is being brewed to excite theatre-goers by showcasing Hani’s efforts in realising his HHH ideal, which stands for Housing, Health and Hunger.
The theatre production will take place in the Springs Theatre on the evening of Sunday, April 24.
