Thembisile Hani was born on 28 June 1942 in the Xhosa village in Cofimvaba, Transkei.
22 Facts About Chris Hani
2.
Chris Hani's 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.
3.
Chris Hani's mother Mary Hani was a simple person who had never attended school.
4.
Chris Hani attended Lovedale school in 1957, to finish his last two years.
5.
Chris Hani twice finished two school grades in a single year.
6.
When Chris Hani was 12 years old, after hearing his father's explanations about apartheid and the African National Congress, he wished to join the ANC but was still too young to be accepted.
7.
In Lovedale school, Chris Hani joined the ANC Youth League when he was 15 years old, even though political activities were not allowed at black schools under apartheid.
8.
In 1959, at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, Chris Hani studied English, Latin and modern and classical literature.
9.
Chris Hani did not participate in any sport, saying "I would rather fight apartheid than play sport".
10.
Chris Hani, in an interview on the Wankie campaign, mentioned that he was a Rhodes University graduate.
11.
Chris Hani received military training in the Soviet Union and served in campaigns in the Zimbabwean War of Liberation, called the Rhodesian Bush War.
12.
Chris Hani's role as a fighter from the earliest days of MK's exile was an important part in the fierce loyalty Hani enjoyed in some quarters later as MK's Deputy Commander.
13.
Many MK female operatives like Dipuo Mvelase adored Chris Hani for having protected women's rights and caring about their wellbeing at military camps.
14.
Chris Hani supported the suspension of the ANC's armed struggle in favour of negotiations.
15.
Chris Hani was assassinated on 10 April 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, a racially mixed suburb of Boksburg.
16.
Chris Hani was accosted by a Polish far-right anti-communist immigrant named Janusz Walus, who shot him as he stepped out of his car.
17.
The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world.
18.
Chris Hani's killers appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, claiming political motivation for their crimes and applying for amnesty on the basis that they had acted on the orders of the Conservative Party.
19.
The Chris Hani family was represented by the anti-apartheid lawyer George Bizos.
20.
Chris Hani's assassination has attracted numerous conspiracy theories about outside involvement.
21.
Chris Hani was a charismatic leader, with significant support among the radical anti-apartheid youth.
22.
In September 2004, Chris Hani was voted 20th in the controversial Top 100 Greatest South Africans poll.