Stephen Biko…EWN
Stephen Biko
Nelson Mandela referred to him as “the spark that lit a veld fire across South Africa,” Stephen Biko was a South African nationalist and socialist.
Born on December 12, 1946, Biko was a staunch leader in the anti-apartheid movement.
Deeply disturbed yet influenced by his mother’s working conditions that inspired his work in advocacy for black South Africans.
On September 12, 1977, after being under a banning order which stopped him from earning money and being mobile, Biko was killed after being in police custody.
He suffered from three brain lesions and a massive brain haemorrhage. A doctor who examined Biko “found no evidence of injury.”
Nevertheless, an autopsy of Biko’s body proved otherwise. Biko was jailed without trial and the police personnel which he was under the custody of were never penalized for his murder.
