A South African court has reopened an inquest into the death of anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko, nearly five decades after he died of brain injuries while in police custody, a case that shocked the world and intensified calls to end white minority rule.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced on Friday that the move, supported by Biko’s family, seeks to establish whether his death involved any criminal acts.
Biko, founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, died on 12 September 1977, allegedly from torture inflicted by members of the apartheid regime’s Special Branch, a police unit tasked with intelligence operations. Despite global outrage, those implicated were never prosecuted.
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A 1977 inquest concluded that Biko’s fatal injuries resulted from a scuffle with police officers, assigning no criminal responsibility. In 1999, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission refused to grant amnesty to the officers involved. According to the NPA, two of those officers are still alive.
“The NPA and its partners will continue their efforts to address the atrocities of the past and assist in providing closure to the Biko family and society at large,” the authority said in a statement.
Decades after the end of apartheid, South Africa continues to grapple with unresolved crimes from that era. Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa established a judicial commission to determine whether attempts were made to obstruct investigations or prosecutions of apartheid-era abuses, following complaints from victims’ families.
The inquest has been adjourned until 12 November for case management at the High Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division.
