The home of late struggle icon Chris Hani, in Dawn Park, will officially be opened as a museum in April, according to the metro.
The Ekurhuleni metro purchased the property in 2016 as part of its programme to preserve the City’s history and heritage.
The project to convert the house into a museum will cost about R50-million.
Hani’s widow, Limpho, officially handed over the keys to Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina in November 2016, during a ceremony at the property.
Other plans revealed during the handover include building a library, erecting a statue at a nearby park which will be linked to the house and constructing walkways from the park to Hani’s grave in South Park Cemetery, Boksburg.
According to metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe, phase one of the installation of the exhibition in the house has been completed, however, due to limited budget, certain phases of the renovations for the entire house are not yet complete.
“As soon as budget is available, the other phases of the project will be done. A nomination dossier has also been submitted by the City to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) for the house to be declared a heritage site and the City is awaiting a response with regard to this,” Gadebe said.
Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and chief of staff of Umkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, and was assassinated on April 10, 1993, in his driveway.
Hani’s assassin, Janusz Walus, wants to be paroled but this has been met with opposition from both the Hani family and the Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola.
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