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Steve Biko (1948-1977): Fighter Against Apartheid and Apostle of Black Consciousness

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Steve Biko (1948-1977): Fighter Against Apartheid and Apostle of Black Consciousness Steve Biko (1948-1977): Fighter against apartheid and apostle of black consciousness http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1977_33 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. 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For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Steve Biko (1948-1977): Fighter against apartheid and apostle of black consciousness Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidSpecial Issue Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Apartheid Publisher United Nations, New York Date 1977-10-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1966 - 1977 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description "Steve Bantu Biko, Honorary President of the Black People's Convention and founder and leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, died in police detention in Pretoria on 12 September 1977. He was the 23rd political detainee to die in the apartheid regime's gaols since March 1976. He had been detained under the infamous Terrorism Act on 18 August." Format extent 20 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1977_33 http://www.aluka.org SPECIAL ISSUE NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* October 1977 SPECIAL ISSUE NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* October 1977 4 UJ , 1917 Africala (1948 - 1977) Fighter against apartheid and apostle of black consciousness * All material in these notes and documents may be freely reprinted. Acknowledgement, together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. -1- Steve Bantu Biko, Honorary President of the Black People's Convention and founder and leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, died in police detention in Pretoria on 12 September 1977. He was the 23rd political detainee to die in the apartheid regime's gaols since March 1976. He had been detained under the infamous Terrorism Act on 18 August. The news of the death of Mr. Biko, who has been called the most important black South African leader of this generation, evoked shock and indignation throughout the world. The initial announcement by the South African Minister of Police that Mr. Biko had died after a seven-day hunger strike was met with universal incredulity, and amid vacillating Government pronouncements and mounting evidence of police maltreatment, anger and demands for a judicial inquiry were voiced by black and iuhite South Africans as well as by many international leaders. A New York Times correspondent wrote from Johannesburg on 18 September: "A week after the event, it is clear that the death of Steven Biko has shaken South Africa more than any single event since the police opened fire at Sharpeville in 1960, killing 72 black demonstrators.' On 13 September, the day after Mr. Biko's death, 40O blacks and whites attended a prayer service in Johannesburg led by prominent churchmen. On 15 September, the police arrested more than 1,200 black university students who gathered at the University of Fort Hare for a peaceful memorial meeting for Mr. Biko. Clashes between mourners and police resulted in a number of deaths. Mr. Biko's funeral, held in King William's Town on 25 September, was attended by 15,000 mourners, despite police actions that prevented thousands more from reaching the funeral from Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and other areas. In an unprecedented gesture, 13 Western States sent senior riplomatic representatives to the funeral to pay respects to the fallen leader. 77-21278 Steve Biko: relentless fighter for dignity and freedom Born in King William's Town in 1948, Steve Biko was educated at Forbes Grant Secondary School and Lovedale College and obtained. his matriculation certificate at Marian Hall, the Catholic Church centre in Natal. In 1966 he enrolled at the University of Natal to study medicine. In 1968, Mr. Biko became founder and President of the South African Students' Organization (SASO). One of the first organizations of the emergent black consciousness movement, SASO has played a significant role in building the unity of black people, especially the youth, in total opposition to apartheid. The Sharpeville massacre of 1960 and subsequent wave of repression and the outlawing of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in the same year had left a void as regards legal political activity by the black community of South Africa. The African Students' Association (ASA) and the African Students' Union of South Africa (ASUSA) faced divisions along sectional or ideological lines, and this lack of unity and co- ordination, coupled with intimidation and harassment by the authorities, led to the collapse of both ASA and ASUSA. The formation of SASO followed the collapse of these earlier black students' associations and the growing feeling that the whitedominated National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), which had still commanded considerable following on black campuses, could not serve the needs of the black students. The principal tenets of black consciousness movement, i.e. black identity and pride and black unity, were central to the emergence of SASO. In 1969, a year after the formation of SASO, Steve Biko was prohibited from returning to the university to continue his studies. He then founded and worked in the Black Community Programme in Durban, another component of the black consciousness movement. Through community projects, the black consciousness movement endeavoured to develop political as well as socio-economic awareness amongst the broader black community of South Africa and to encourage positive action to emancipate themselves from the inhuman yoke of apartheid. In 1972, Mr. Biko edited Black Review 1972, a comprehensive analysis of the events and trends in the black community of -3- South Africa, which was subsequently banned. The introduction to this volume states: "Blacks want to know, and must know, more about who they were and who they are if they are seriously concerned about whom they intend to become. In answer to these questions lies the purpose of this publication.; In 1973, the apartheid regime served Mr. Biko with a fiveyear banning order, restricting him to the magisterial district of King William's Town. He continued to work there as an executive member of the Eastern Cape branch of the Black Community Programme and started studying law by correspondence. In December 1975, the restrictions on Mr. Biko were increased and he was prohibited even from associating with the Black Community Programme. 1r. Donald Woods, editor of the East London Daily Dispatch and a close friend of Mr. Biko, recalled recently that he had pleaded with the Minister of Justice Kruger to lift Mr. Biko's restrictions. According to Mr. Woods, Mr. Biko was ';the most important political leader in the country". "The result of that visit was an increase in Steve's restrictions and a State prosecution against me. Steve's reaction was to burst out laughing - nothing ever daunted his spirit. In 1975, Mr. Biko founded the Zimele Trust Fund to assist released political prisoners to rehabilitate themselves, and was appointed its Secretary-General in 1976. At the 1976 congress of the Black People's Convention in Durban - a congress which he could not attend because of the banning orders Mr. Diko was elected Honorary President of the organization. The importance of Steve Biko in the liberation struggle in South Africa was underscored when, during the upheaval which followed the Soweto massacre of June 1976, Soweto leaders demanded that the Government negotiate the country's future with three black leaders Mr. Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, serving a sentence of life imprisonment on Robben Island; Mr. Robert SobukwTe, leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, restricted in Kimberley; and Mr. Steve Biko. In December 1976, Senator Dick Clark, African affairs adviser to then President- elect Carter of the United States, accompanied by United States Ambassador-designate to the United Nations, Mr. Andrew Young, and Congressman Charles Diggs, interrupted their participation in the American- African Institute conference in Maseru and chartered a special plane to visit Mr. Biko at his home and to hold discussions with him. Mr. Biko was detained several times since 1974, once for a period of 101 days, and was charged with breaking his banning order and with obstructing the course of justice, allegedly by persuading witnesses to change their evidence. He was, however. never found guilty of any offence in a court of law. Mr. Biko was again detained by Security Police on 18 August 1977 in Grahamstown under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act,which provides for indefinite detention without any charges. His whereabouts until the time of his death were unknown to members of his family, relatives and friends. Mr. Biko leaves his wife, Ntsiki, and two young sons, Nkosinati, age 7, and Samora, age 2. In 1976, Donald Woods had written under the headline "Remember the name well': ..
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