Will South Africa's Biko inquest finally yield justice for struggle icon?

"On an August evening in 1977, 30yearold Steve Biko was on his way back from an aborted secret meeting with an anti-apartheid activist in Cape Town, taking the 12hour drive back home to King William's Town. But it was a journey the resistance fighter would never finish, for he was arrested and, less than a month later, was dead. Against the backdrop of increasingly harsh racist laws in South Africa, Biko, a bold and forthright youth leader, had emerged as one of the loudest voices calling for change and Black self-determination."

"A famously charming and eloquent speaker, he was often touted as Nelson Mandela's likely successor in the struggle for freedom after the core of the anti-apartheid leadership was jailed in the 1960s. But his popularity also made him a prime target of the apartheid regime, which put him under banning orders that severely restricted his movement, political activities, and associations; imprisoned him for his political activism; and ultimately caused his death in detention a case that continues to resonate decades later, largely because none of the perpetrators have ever been brought to justice."

"On September 12 this year, 48 years after Biko died, South Africa's Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi ordered a new inquest into his death. The hearing resumed at the Eastern Cape High Court on Wednesday before being postponed to January 30. There are two persons of interest implicated in Biko's death who are still alive, according to the country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which aims to determine whether there is enough evidence that he was murdered, and therefore grounds to prosecute his killers."

Steve Biko, a prominent anti-apartheid youth leader, was arrested in August 1977 after returning from a secret meeting and died in detention less than a month later. Biko advocated Black self-determination and became a charismatic national figure, attracting banning orders, imprisonment, and state surveillance. No perpetrators have been convicted for his death, leaving a long unresolved injustice. On September 12, 48 years after his death, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi ordered a new inquest. The Eastern Cape High Court resumed hearings but postponed them to January 30. Two persons of interest remain alive, according to the NPA.

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