Can a New Inquest Finally Deliver Justice for Steve Biko?

Can a New Inquest Finally Deliver Justice for Steve Biko?

Cape Town — On an August evening in 1977, 30‑year‑old Steve Biko set out to drive back to King William’s Town after an aborted secret meeting in Cape Town. He never completed the journey: police arrested him, and less than a month later he was dead in detention. The brutal circumstances of his treatment and the failure to secure convictions have made his death one of the most enduring symbols of apartheid-era impunity.

Renewed scrutiny

On 12 September this year — 48 years after Biko’s death — South Africa’s Justice Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, ordered a fresh inquest into the circumstances surrounding his death. The hearing at the Eastern Cape High Court resumed recently before being adjourned to 30 January. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says two "persons of interest" linked to the case remain alive and is assessing whether there is sufficient evidence to classify Biko’s death as murder and pursue prosecutions.

Arrest, detention and death

Biko, a medical student and a leading figure in the Black Consciousness movement, was banned and closely monitored by the apartheid security forces. Arrested under the Terrorism Act, he was initially held in Port Elizabeth and then taken to facilities where the security police’s "special branch" operated. While in custody he was stripped, shackled and repeatedly beaten. The apartheid government announced on 12 September 1977 that Biko had died in Pretoria; a family‑commissioned autopsy later attributed his death to severe brain injuries sustained during detention.

Truth, reconciliation and stalled prosecutions

After apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigated Biko’s death. Several security officers applied for amnesty and admitted to beating him, describing a "scuffle" at the Sanlam Building in Port Elizabeth. The TRC later denied amnesty to some applicants for failing to make full disclosures and recommended prosecutions — most of which did not occur. The unresolved prosecutions have long frustrated Biko’s family and many activists.

Wider context: allegations of interference

The Biko inquest is part of a broader effort this year to reopen inquiries into suspicious apartheid‑era deaths. President Cyril Ramaphosa also ordered an inquiry in April into allegations that post‑apartheid governments deliberately obstructed prosecutions of TRC‑referred cases. These accusations — amplified by a 2015 affidavit from former national prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli — suggest political interference delayed or stopped many prosecutions and have prompted renewed public pressure for accountability.

Family, legacy and unresolved questions

For Biko’s family, the inquest is a long‑overdue attempt to answer painful questions. As his eldest son, Nkosinathi Biko, has said, no legal outcome will restore a lost life, but accountability matters for national healing and a culture of responsibility. Analysts caution the new inquest may be narrowly focused on determining whether Biko’s death should be classed as murder rather than exhaustively probing who ordered or authorised the assault, whether forensic findings were suppressed, and what the chain of command was.

“There is no such thing as joy in dealing with the case of murder,” Nkosinathi Biko told Al Jazeera. “Death is full and final, and no outcome will be restorative of the lost life.”

Why it still matters

Biko’s ideas — especially Black Consciousness and the call for dignity and self‑respect — continue to resonate in South Africa’s student and social movements. The outcome of the inquest and the related judicial inquiry will test the strength of South Africa’s commitment to reckon with its past: to move beyond symbolic commemoration toward the accountability many victims’ families still seek.