With the pending release on parole of Chris Hani’s murderer, Janusz Walus, and the vile racial outburst by Belinda Magor, it doesn’t take much for tempers to boil over. Walus himself was stabbed in prison yesterday, it has been confirmed.
In an environment like this, it is almost criminally irresponsible for some media outlets to claim that Hani’s grave in Ekurhuleni has been vandalised, with the implication that white racists must be the ones who did it.
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Had journalists bothered to speak to workers at the memorial site – as we did – they would have found that Hani’s headstone was left untouched and that the vandalism was more of the ongoing theft and looting which has plagued the site since 2015.
The Ekurhuleni authorities have not only badly neglected maintenance at the memorial – which we reported on earlier this year – but they have neglected to put in place adequate security.
This means that a site, which should be a monument to a national struggle hero, is a soft target for thieves and vandals.
Political analyst Xolani Dube reckons the thefts show how people regard the ANC and the supposed struggle heroes. They believe the ANC steals from them, so they return the favour…
ALSO READ: Parole for Chris Hani’s killer: Judiciary seems oblivious to history
