The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has announced that it will on Friday enrol the reopening of the inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist and Black Consciousness Movement founder and leader, Stephen 'Steve' Bantu Biko.
The prosecutorial body made the announcement on social media site, X.
“The reopening of the inquest follows the [Department of Justice and Constitutional Development] Minister’s approval of the National Director of Public Prosecutions’ request, which was supported by the legal representatives of the Biko family,” the NPA said.
The revered activist was murdered while in apartheid police custody some 48 years ago after his arrest at a roadblock.
“Biko was arrested with his comrade, Peter Jones, at a roadblock near Grahamstown [Makhanda] on 18 August 1977. He violated his banning orders, which restricted his movement to King Williamstown [Qonce].
“He was taken to Walmer Police Station in Port Elizabeth [Gqeberha], where he was allegedly tortured while shackled with leg irons and kept naked in a cell. It was only after 24 days in custody that medical assistance was sought for him after ‘foam’ was noted around his mouth.
“On 11 September 1977, he was loaded, unconscious, still naked and shackled, into the back of a police Land Rover and transported to a prison hospital in Pretoria, 1 200 kilometres away. He died outside a Pretoria hospital on 12 September 1977 at the age of 30,” the NPA said.
The leader’s death was declared to have been caused by extensive brain damage and acute kidney failure and uremia.
An inquest was opened that same year with members of the notorious police Special Branch (SB) members telling the inquest that he had “sustained his injuries when he banged his head against the wall”.
“The presiding officer, Chief Magistrate MJ Prins, accepted the version of the SB members and found that Biko sustained the injuries during a scuffle with the SB members.
“The magistrate also exonerated the medical practitioners who treated Biko while in prison. On 02 February 1978, the then Attorney General of the Eastern Cape declined to prosecute anyone for the death of Biko.
“During the TRC sitting in 1997, former senior SB officers from Gqeberha, Major Harold Snyman, Capt. Daniel Petrus Siebert, Capt. Jacobus Johannnes Oosthuysen Benecke, W/O Rubin Marx and Sergeant Gideon Johannes Nieuwoudt applied for amnesty in relation to the death of Biko,” the statement concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
