South Africa to reopen inquest into 1977 death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko
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Activist Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, died after allegedly being tortured by apartheid authorities in 1977.
PHOTO: AFP
South African prosecutors will reopen an inquest into the 1977 killing of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, whose death after alleged torture by the apartheid authorities drew worldwide condemnation.
The inquiry will be opened on Sept 12, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement on Sept 10. That date marks the 48th anniversary of Mr Biko’s death in police custody.
The killing of Mr Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, inspired a song by Peter Gabriel and was the basis of the 1987 film Cry Freedom, in which he was portrayed by Hollywood star Denzel Washington.
The inquest comes as the nation reexamines apartheid-era crimes following pressure from the families of those murdered by the security forces seeking justice 31 years after White-minority rule ended in 1994.
President Cyril Ramaphosa established a commission of inquiry in May to determine whether attempts were made to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes. That was in response to a lawsuit brought by people impacted by the violence.
In addition, the NPA said it would hold an inquest into the 1993 killing of five teenagers during a South African military raid on the home of a member of the Pan African Congress in the city of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape province.
The work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established by former president Nelson Mandela in 1995 to expose the injustices of South Africa’s past, has been heralded as a cathartic act of national healing.
To get people to testify, it granted amnesty to hundreds of participants in apartheid-era violence, with many crimes never resolved and only a handful of people prosecuted.
The TRC’s final report described how Mr Biko died on the floor of a cell in Pretoria Central Prison on Sept 12, 1997, “naked and alone”, with a post-mortem revealing extensive head trauma, brain damage and various external injuries.
“The medical treatment was subsequently described by a judge of the Supreme Court as having been ‘callous, lacking any element of compassion, care or humanity’,” the TRC said. BLOOMBERG
