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Today marks 40 years since the BC leader was killed

Today marks 40 years since Black Consciousness leader and liberation struggle hero Steve Bantu Biko died at the hands of apartheid security forces in detention in 1977.

A number of activities are planned by both government and the Steve Biko Foundation to commemorate this sad episode in the history of the South African struggle for liberation.

This morning in Pretoria, President Jacob Zuma will visit Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre (formerly Pretoria Central Prison) to lay a wreath at the prison cell in which Biko succumbed to injuries sustained when he was brutally assaulted by the security police.

Various activities are planned by his foundation in his hometown of Ginsberg outside King William’s Town where a multi-million Steve Biko Centre is located.

The centre’s spokeswoman Bokang Pooe said today’s events will commence with a wreath laying ceremony and prayer session by various religious groups at his grave in the Steve Biko Garden of Remembrance in King William’s Town.

Pooe said hundreds of learners, provincial politicians and community members, would later lead a procession from Biko’s grave to the Biko centre for a dialogue and cultural activities.

The theme will be: “Biko, an inspiration beyond the lifetime”. Unisa academic Tendai Sithole will deliver the keynote address.

There will be screenings of documentaries and short films depicting the life and times of Biko. Pooe said there will be more events on November 14 to remember the start of the inquest into his death in 1977.

Biko was arrested near Grahamstown on 18 August 18, taken to PE and tortured. On September 11, he was driven in the in the back of a police van, to Pretoria where he died.

Yesterday Zuma said: “Biko fought white supremacy and was equally disturbed by what he saw as an inferiority complex among black people. He emphasised the need for psychological liberation for black people.”