Biography of Steve Biko

Stephen Bantu Biko (1946-1977)

Stephen Bantu Biko was one of the major activist intellectuals involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. Born on December 18, 1946 in King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Biko went on to become a cornerstone in the black struggle for liberation in South Africa and beyond.

Educational Foundations

Steve Biko was raised by his widowed mother in the Eastern Cape. A promising student, Biko was awarded funds to attend boarding school. In 1966, Biko matriculated to the University of Natal Non-European Section to study medicine, embarking on an educational journey that would result in his development as an activist and intellectual.

At the University of Natal, Steve Biko was a member of an organization called the National Union of South African Students. After attending a NUSAS convention at Rhodes University where non-white students were discriminated against, he became displeased with the revolutionary limitations of the predominantly white group and increasingly convinced that issues regarding black South Africans—a group categorized by Biko as inclusive of all non-white South Africans, including coloreds, Indians, and Africans—would be best handled by fellow black students who were subject to and familiar with the oppressive nature of the apartheid regime.

As a result, in 1969 Biko and several other students started the all-black South African Students Organization (SASO). As the organization’s first president, Steve Biko honed his skills in political theorizing and campus organization. It was during his time with SASO that Biko became engaged with Black Consciousness theory, and he traveled to many colleges throughout South Africa rallying students around the cause for black empowerment and liberation.

An Activist Intellectual

Biko’s political involvement only increased after his time at the University of Natal. In 1971 he participated in the founding of the Black Peoples’ Convention, an umbrella organization that united various groups under the auspices of Black Consciousness ideology. The following year he worked with the Black Community Programmes in Durban, resulting in his first government legislated five-year ban. (The South African government frequently issued bans to persons and organizations considered a threat to the regime. Whilst banned, individuals were not permitted to travel, be accompanied by more than one other person at a time, nor participate in any form of political activity. The banning system could be compared to an extreme form of house arrest—exhile without having to vacate the country).

Despite having been warned by the South African government, Steve Biko continued to rally blacks together towards the prospect of liberation. He founded the Ginsberg Educational Trust to assist black students, and the Zimele Trust Fund to help political prisoners and their families. In 1976 Biko was elected Secretary-General of Zimele and the Honorary President of the Black People’s Convention. He was widely known for his commitment to the cause of black liberation, and was among a select few African leaders to be consulted by the South African government during times of crisis.

Although never actually convicted of a crime, Steve Biko was frequently arrested and detained for months on end. His final arrest occurred in August of 1977 en route to a political rally despite being under a banning order. Biko died due to injuries incurred while in police custody.

Sources:

Lloyd, V. W. “Steve Biko and the Subversion of Race,” Philosophia Afriana, Aug2003, Vol. 6 Issue 2, p19.

Eades, L. M. The End of Apartheid in South Africa. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1999).

Bernstein, H. No.46--Steve Biko. London: International Defence & Aid Fund (1978).