Why Racism Is Not A [Straightforward] Black & White Issue

This year marked the 28th anniversary of the assassination of the African National Congress (ANC) politician, Chris Hani.

On 10 April 1993, Chris Hani was assassinated while stepping out of his car at his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg, by Janusz Waluś, who has migrated to South Africa from Poland.

Addressing the nation three days later on the 13th of April, ANC President Nelson Mandela’s said as follows:

“A white man, full of prejudice and hate, came to our country and committed a deed so foul that our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster.

A white woman, of Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we may know, and bring to justice, this assassin.”

According to reports, Hani was shot at approximately 10:20am and died at the scene, having received two bullets to the chest and an additional two sub-sonic bullets to the head. With him at the time was his daughter Nomakhwezi, then fifteen years old. 

A witness was Margareta Harmse, an Afrikaans housewife, who had recognised Waluś and his vehicle and had immediately called the police, leading to the arrest of Waluś and his subsequent  interrogation by 7pm the same day.

The event was one of those ‘where were you?’ moments, as well as the ‘when’ and ‘how’ you heard about it. 

In my case, I was walking along a side street in Dublin and was just about to enter a house when I heard the news on Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1 coming from a neighbouring house.

The most memorable quote heard on the RTÉ news report, however, was the contribution of ANC official Mosima Gabriel ‘Tokyo’ Sexwale who, in an interview at the scene said:

“We must never forget that while it was the hand of a white man that pulled the trigger, it was the eyes of a white woman that enabled us to catch Waluś."

This ‘white man as perpetrator / white woman as redressor’ paradigm was recalled by Sexwale in a PBS Frontline interview.

Far too often, debates and / or discussions on ‘race’ issues are presented in a polarized manner, and creating the impression that one’s own stance is determined by one’s background.

However, as we have seen time and time again, campaigns and demonstrations against human injustice suffered by one group have involved participants of all ‘races’ speaking with one voice; indeed, the defeat of apartheid in South Africa was possible precisely as a result of different ‘races’ coming together.

Twenty-eight years after Chris Hani’s assassination, one of the ways his memory could be best honoured is to remember Sexwale’s words.

Addressing negative attitudes and behaviour in the twenty-first century must move away entirely from the ‘skin colour’ narrative.