The BBC's international radio station (B2B)

No Master Brand

BBC World Service Core

Witness History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

Witness

Witness History: The Death of Steve Biko

12/09/2012 GMT

The Death of Steve Biko

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Death of Steve Biko

The authorities said he'd starved himself to death, but he died from head injuries

It is 35 years since the anti-apartheid activist died in a police cell. The South African police claimed he'd starved himself to death.

The anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, died in a police cell in 1977. The South African police claimed he'd gone on hunger strike and had starved himself to death, but he had only been in prison a matter of days. 

Helen Zille was the journalist who helped uncover the truth of his death - that he had in fact died of a brain hemorrhage due to head injuries. The report she published in the Rand Daily Mail showed that the govenment had lied.  

(Image: Members of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA) hold a candle light memorial ceremony to mark the death anniversary of the anti-apartheid activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement Steve Bantu Biko. Credit: RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP/GettyImages)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

The Death of Steve Biko

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Core

About this data