Johannesburg – As political parties are expected to hold public rallies to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the June 16, 1976, student uprising next Friday, the SACP in Gauteng will observe the day differently.
SACP Gauteng secretary Jacob Mamabolo said yesterday that his party would, on June 16, march to the Department of Correctional Service in Tshwane, to demand an inquest into the death of the party’s former general secretary Chris Hani.
Hani was brutally killed outside his house in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on April 10, 1993. Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis were subsequently sentenced to life for their role in the murder.
Derby-Lewis died on 3 November 2016 while on parole and Walus was released from prison in December last year following a Constitutional Court ruling after he had spent 28 years in jail for the murder.
Mamabolo said the march would be followed by a picket outside the Department of Water and Sanitation in solidarity with the residents of Hammanskraal who have been subjected to drinking contaminated water.
“The march will begin at the Department of Correctional Services where a memorandum will be handed over before proceeding to the Department of Water and Sanitation and the City of Tshwane Metropolitan offices.
“The SACP continues with its campaign for an inquest into the assassination of our struggle icon and former General Secretary Cde Chris Hani 30 years ago. This push is with the hope that a detailed inquest will uncover several unanswered questions, including the role of many people who were let off the hook in the assassination, including the masterminds behind it,” he said.
Mamabolo said his party remained convinced that Walus and Derby-Lewis both failed to completely divulge the whole truth behind the murder.
A few weeks ago, the cholera outbreak gripped Hammanskraal, claiming 23 lives and authorities are yet to pinpoint the source of the bacteria. Dozens of water samples have been taken across the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, but it is a well-documented fact that Hammanskraal has been troubled by water problems for many years.
Mamabolo said the SACP believed that this crisis could have been avoided, adding that warnings of water quality and pollution from the Rooiwal water-treatment plant had been ignored.
“The Metro has failed to manage and maintain existing wastewater treatment works over a prolonged period of time. Giving people contaminated water is a gross violation of human rights and we call for a full independent investigation into this crisis.
“The investigation will help to narrow the facts and get closer to the truth, so that those entrusted with the responsibility of preventing such crises are held accountable. This is also critical in ensuring that families who lost their loved ones find closure,” he said.
Mamabolo said In the interim, his party was calling on all residents to practise good personal hygiene amid an increase in the death toll from the cholera outbreak.