An updated edition of Hani: A Life Too Short by Janet Smith and Beauregard Tromp is out now from Jonathan Ball Publishers.

10 April 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of Chris Hani’s assassination by right-wing fanatics.

Hani’s assassination in 1993 gave rise to one of South Africa’s greatest political questions: if he had survived, what impact would he have had on the ANC government? And could this charismatic man have risen to become president of the country?

This updated version of the seminal biography of Hani re-evaluates his legacy and traces his life from childhood in rural Transkei to the crisis in the ANC camps in the 1980s and the perilous last 36 months he spent back home rallying for South Africa’s freedom.

Drawing on interviews with those who knew him, this vividly written book provides a detailed account of the life of a hero of South Africa’s liberation, who was both an intellectual and a fighter.

‘This is an excellent portrayal of the Chris I knew. Not one word of exaggeration, so large was Chris. His contribution to our freedom is inestimable.’ – Mavuso Msimang, ANC veteran and former member of the military high command of uMkhonto we Sizwe

About the authors

Janet Smith is a former newspaper editor and the author of Patrice Motsepe: An Appetite for Disruption. She is also a co-author of The Coming Revolution: Julius Malema and the Fight for Economic Freedom and The Black Consciousness Reader, among other titles.

Award-winning journalist Beauregard Tromp is the Africa editor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. He was deputy editor at the Mail & Guardian and Africa correspondent for The Star.

Categories Non-fiction South Africa South African Current Affairs

Tags Beauregard Tromp Hani: A Life Too Short Janet Smith Jonathan Ball Publishers New books New releases