The South African Communist Party (SACP) has welcomed the University of the Western Cape’s decision to confer an honorary doctorate posthumously to former SACP general secretary Chris Hani, saying the university correctly characterised Hani’s legacy as one of “courage and sacrifice and that this continues to inspire generations”.

On Tuesday, Hani was honoured for his lifetime contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle and his influence on South Africa’s democracy, by the university which has conferred honorary doctorates on other revered South Africans, including Justice Albie Sachs and Justice Dikgang Moseneke.

Hani’s daughter, Lindiwe accepted the honorary doctorate.

Hani, the former Chief of Staff of uMkhonto weSizwe – the joint African National Congress (ANC) and SACP armed struggle formation and the people’s liberation army – was assassinated on 10 April 1993.

“At the time, he was the general secretary of the SACP and a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. By assassinating Hani, the convicted assassins, along with their collaborators, or whoever gave them information or worked directly or indirectly with them, intended to plunge South Africa into a civil war,” said SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila.

However, he pointed to nationwide anger in response to Hani’s assassination, which he said compelled the apartheid regime to concede to the demand for and set the date for the first democratic election, which was held in April 1994.

Mapaila noted that Hani advocated for further progress towards a socialist future, envisioning a society where the exploitation of one person by another and all forms of oppression stemming from the capitalist system would be ended, along with the system itself.

Mapaila said the SACP hoped that one of the country’s institutions of higher learning would establish a Research Chair dedicated to preserving and continuously developing the revolutionary ideals of democracy and socialism that Hani devoted his life to achieve.

Each year on April 10, the SACP held a commemoration ceremony in honour of Hani’s contribution to end the apartheid regime and establish the transition to democracy in the country.