Durban — The 1860 Heritage Centre has paid tribute to the legacy of Steve Bantu Biko on the 45th anniversary of his murder.
The centre said that today (Monday) marked the 45th anniversary of Steve Bantu Biko’s murder at the hands of four security police in 1977.
“While we have the freedom he sacrificed his life for, the type of country he yearned for is in deep crisis,” the centre said.
“In paying tribute to the legacy of Steve Bantu Biko on this day, September 12, 2022, it is time for all of us to take off our coats.”
The centre quoted Biko’s The Quest for a True Humanity when the Black Consciousness leader said: “In a bid for change, we have to take off our coats, be prepared to lose our comfort and security, our jobs and positions of prestige, and our families. A struggle without casualties is no struggle.”
The centre said: “Now more than ever, we need to take off our coats to restore dignity, pride and honour to the country that Steve Bantu Biko was murdered for. NOW IS THAT TIME.”
The 1860 Heritage Centre is a South African heritage museum that showcases the diversity of South Africa's rich heritage.
According to the Steve Biko Foundation, Bantu Stephen Biko was born in Tylden on December 18, 1946.
In 1968, Biko and his colleagues founded the South African Students’ Organisation.
Biko was frequently harassed and detained under the country’s notorious security legislation. This interrogation culminated in his arrest, along with his colleague and comrade Peter Cyril Jones, during a police roadblock outside King William’s Town on August 18, 1977.
Biko and Jones were tortured at the headquarters of the Security Division housed in what was then known as the Sanlam building in Port Elizabeth. It was during this period that Biko sustained a massive brain haemorrhage.
On September 11, 1977, Biko was transported to Pretoria central prison – a twelve-hour journey, naked, without medical escort, in the back of a police Land Rover. Biko died on the floor of an empty cell in Pretoria Central Prison on September 12. It was in this way that South Africa was robbed of one of its foremost political thinkers.
Biko officially became the 46th victim of torture and death under the State Security Laws. His death helped highlight the brutality of South African security laws to the international community and the general plight of South Africans.
Daily News