Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK

Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Chris Hani, freedom fighter, political activist and at the time Deputy Commander of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) in Zambia, was appointed as new chief-of-staff of MK to succeed Joe Slovo, who had been appointed general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP). MK was intensifying its struggle against South Africa during the 1980s, a period during which many cadres in the military camps became restless, and found in Hani a strict disciplinarian.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?

How we know this

01Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012716

South African History Online (2011) 'Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012716 (Accessed: 10 September 2026).

South African History Online, Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012716, (accessed 10 September 2026).

"Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012716. Accessed 10 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Chris Hani succeeds Joe Slovo as Chief of MK." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012716.