Sequel to Long Walk to Freedom - Revision 6 - Chapter 1 Page 9

did not hesitate to criticise even his own organisation When he felt it was failing to give correct leadership. He recalled that: “those of us in the camps in the sixties did not have a profound understanding of the problems. Most of us were young in our early twenties. We were impatient to get into action. Don’t tell us there are no routes, we used to say. We must be deployed to find routes. That’s what we were trained for.” Hani became the leading spoke-person for militant M.K. soldiers who felt the leadership was too complacent. After writing a formal petition, Hani found himself in hot water with the camp leadership, and he was detained for a while by his own organisation. He was, however, released when his plight came to the attention of the more senior ANC, notably Oliver Tambo and Joe Slovo. Hani returned to South Africa in August 1990, a hero to a great majority of South Africans. Several opinion polls at the time showed that he was easily the second most popular politician in the country. In December 1991 he became General Secretary of the SACP. Hani put the last years of his life tirelessly addressing Meetings throughout the length and breadth of South Africa, village gatherings, shop stewards councils and street committees. He learnt all his authority and military prestige to defend negotiations, often speaking patiently to very sceptical youths, or communities suffering the brunt of Third Force violence. In their amnesty application to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the two convicted killers of Hani, Janus Waluz and