Time to remember Steve Biko

He died in the Struggle, yet is remarkably overlooked, writes

organisation; with most of its leaders imprisoned or banned by the mid-1970s, it was predominantly an intellectual movement confined to urban areas. As newly politicised South Africans formed alternative organisations, it fragmented and began to lose influence.

By 1977 it was deemed illegal under the Internal Security Act, and Biko’s murder robbed it of its intellectual and political leader.

But the movement was long outlived by its ideology. Ideas are difficult to extinguish and don’t necessarily need an institutional home to flourish. The “revolutionary consciousness” for which Biko called enabled people to appreciate their subjugation and to take action.

It inspired the children of Soweto to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans in schools in 1976, resulting in an uprising that caught the world’s attention and put the regime under more pressure.

In fact, Black Consciousness was a more powerful catalyst than the established liberation movements. It “freed” minds, revived and mobilised political opposition, and re-energised the declining ANC as militant young activists joined the exiled armed struggle.

Yet since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has worked hard to monopolise the history of liberation. A plethora of groups including Black Consciousness, the United Democratic Front, the PAC and student organisations were all involved in the anti-apartheid Struggle, yet the ANC has worked to disregard the efforts of alternative actors. To recognise the power and influence of Biko’s ideas would disrupt the ANC’s preferred version of history.

Even though Biko became a martyr for the anti-apartheid Struggle in his day, he is often left out of the story. The same goes for other figures who helped topple the system, especially those who worked outside the ANC. It’s long past time to celebrate these other elements of the Struggle – of whom Biko was surely among the strongest.

Graham is a lecturer in History, University of Dundee