Chris Hani hated corruption and so does the ANC: Blade Nzimande

Remembering Chris Hani 31 years after his brutal murder, minister of higher education, science and technology Blade Nzimande told a crowd during a gathering to commemorate the late SACP leader that he hated corruption.

He said Hani's hate for corruption, which leaves the poor destitute, mirrored that of the governing party.

“Comrade Chris hated corruption — and so does the ANC, by the way. We need to do all we can to ensure that, among other things, those who are implicated to have their hands dirty in the corporate capture of the state must be dealt with,” Nzimande said.

Nzimande said it was high time that people implicated in wrongdoing in chief justice Raymond Zondo's state capture inquiry faced the music — in honour of Hani.

“We must not allow them to use any excuses or any method to try to run away from accounting for these realities. The account of what we call state capture in this country, actually some of those actions amount to treason. As a country, in honour of this hero we must have our date in dealing with state capture and all those who were involved in it,” he said.

Nzimande said Hani would have been proud of the strides made by the ANC government in the past 30 years.

“As a government, we want to say today bhuti Chris would have been very proud of these achievements. Of course, we are under no illusion that we still have a lot to do to take forward. In particular, there are challenges we have done something about but which we are far from addressing, such as the issue of jobs and economic growth, as well as some of the social ills we face, for instance the scourge of GBV.”

Hani was killed aged 50 outside his home on April 10 1993 in Boksburg. Janusz Waluś and Clive Derby-Lewis were sentenced for his murder. Derby-Lewis died of cancer in 2016 after being released on medical parole in 2015, while Waluś was released on parole in December 2022. 

Speaking at the commemoration, Hani's widow Limpho said the current state of the country was not worth losing her husband for.

“It was not worth his life, it was not worth me being a widow, his children fatherless and grandchildren not knowing him. This government has failed him and all of us. Countless of our people have died for our so-called freedom. I can tell you this, this is not what they had in mind as they laid down their lives.”

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