COSATU+on+13th+anniversary+of+murder+of+Chris+Hani



=COSATU statement on 13th anniversary of murder of Chris Hani – 10 April 2006=

On this day, the 13th anniversary of the tragic moment when Chris Hani was assassinated – 10 April 1993 - the Congress of South African Trade Unions dips its banners in honour of one of the very greatest heroes of the South African liberation struggle.

Each year on this day we remember and pay tribute to this much loved working-class hero and giant of the national liberation. Today, at a time when we keep hearing allegations of public figures forsaking the liberation struggle in favour of self-enrichment, Chris Hani stands out as a shining example of a leader who would never have dreamed of doing such a thing. He was always, and remains, an inspiration to workers, the poor, the youth and community activists.

He embodied all the finest traditions of our movement – a willingness to make sacrifices for the cause, without seeking personal gain or praise. He was renowned within the democratic movement for his absolute integrity.

He was a people’s leader who always identified with the poor and the working class. For him the concept of liberation and socialism had to be deeply rooted in the movement. He was an intellectual but was at the same time part and parcel of the working class movement. He understood that socialist ideology was useless unless it could be explained and made relevant to the workers and the poor.

As he himself said: "Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about health care, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about education for all our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market. As long as the economy is dominated by an un-elected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist.”

In the debates taking place today within our movement, there is surely no doubt which side Chris Hani would be on. This week he would have been marching with the ranks of the exploited and underpaid security workers. He would be fighting alongside the Transnet workers and all the others who are struggling for a living wage and job security.

He would be speaking at COSATU rallies condemning casualisation, poverty wages and the huge inequalities that are getting wider instead of narrower. He would share our outrage at the levels of unemployment and poverty after 12 years of democracy. He would have reminded us that the Freedom Charter calls for the sharing of national wealth and for work and security for all.

COSATU is determined that Chris Hani’s memory and the legacy of struggle he bequeathed us will be kept alive, by continuing the battles he led, and keeping alive his unshakeable belief in the need for socialism and the liberation of working people.

COSATU’s campaigns - against poverty and unemployment, for the delivery of basic services to the poor and for a living wage and the dignity of working people - are a continuation of the struggles for which he died. And we will not rest until the goals he set for our movement are achieved. We honour the memory of this great leader and rededicate ourselves to the struggle for national liberation and socialism.

1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets, Braamfontein, 2017 P.O.Box 1019, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24, Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940, E-Mail: patrick@cosatu.org.za**
 * Patrick Craven (Editor, Shopsteward Journal), Congress of South African Trade Unions