Steve Biko
Steve Biko (born December 18, 1946, King William’s Town [now Qonce], South Africa—died September 12, 1977, Pretoria) was the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. His death from injuries suffered while in police custody made him an international martyr for South African Black nationalism.
Education and activism
Biko lived most of his life under apartheid, the South African government policy which sanctioned racial segregation and discrimination against nonwhites in the country. After being expelled from high school for political activism, Biko enrolled in and graduated (1966) from St. Francis College, a liberal boarding school in Natal, and then entered the University of Natal Medical School. There he became involved in the multiracial National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), a moderate organization that had long espoused the rights of Blacks. He soon grew disenchanted with NUSAS, believing that, instead of simply allowing Blacks to participate in white South African society, the society itself needed to be restructured around the culture of the Black majority. In 1968 he cofounded the all-Black South African Students’ Organization (SASO), and he became its first president the following year. SASO was based on the philosophy of Black consciousness, which encouraged Blacks to recognize their inherent dignity and self-worth. In the 1970s the Black Consciousness Movement spread from university campuses into urban Black communities throughout South Africa. In 1972 Biko was one of the founders of the Black People’s Convention, an umbrella organization of Black consciousness groups.
Biko drew official censure in 1973, when he and other SASO members were banned; their associations, movements, and public statements were thereby restricted. He then operated covertly, establishing the Zimele Trust Fund in 1975 to help political prisoners and their families. He was arrested four times over the next two years and was held without trial for months at a time.
Death and investigation
On August 18, 1977, Biko and a fellow activist were seized at a roadblock and jailed in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha). Biko was found naked and shackled outside a hospital in Pretoria, 740 miles (1,190 km) away, on September 11 and died the next day of a massive brain hemorrhage.
Police initially denied any maltreatment of Biko; it was determined later that he had probably been severely beaten while in custody, but the officers involved were cleared of wrongdoing in the government’s inquest. In 1997 five former police officers confessed to having killed Biko and applied for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (a body convened to review atrocities committed during the apartheid years); amnesty was denied in 1999.
2025 reopening of inquest into his death
In 2025 South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority reopened the inquest into Biko’s death. The reopening was launched on September 12, the 48th anniversary of his death.
- In full:
- Bantu Stephen Biko
- Born:
- December 18, 1946, King William’s Town [now Qonce], South Africa
- Died:
- September 12, 1977, Pretoria (aged 30)
- Founder:
- Black Consciousness movement
- On the Web:
- AL Jazeera - Will South AfricaÂ’s Biko inquest finally yield justice for struggle icon? (Dec. 10, 2025)
Biko in popular culture
Donald Woods, a South African journalist, depicts his friendship with Biko in the book Biko (1978; 3rd rev. ed., 1991), and their relationship is portrayed in the film Cry Freedom (1987). Biko has also been commemorated in music, such as in British rocker Peter Gabriel’s song “Biko” (1980) and “Steve Biko” (1997) by Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician Beenie Man. In conjunction with the release of Cry Freedom in 1987, Gabriel created a music video for “Biko,” which features clips from the film.
