Person    | Male  Born 18/12/1946  Died 12/9/1977

Steve Biko

Anti-apartheid activist. Born Stephen Bantu Biko in Ginsberg Township, in what is now the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He was initially involved with the multiracial National Union of South African Students, but later became convinced that black, Indian and coloured students needed an organization of their own, and helped found the South African Students' Organisation (SASO). On 18 August 1977, he was arrested and interrogated by the Port Elizabeth security police, which involved torture and beatings. He suffered a major head injury, and was chained to a window grille for a day. On 11th September 1977, police loaded him into the back of a land rover, naked and manacled, and driven to Pretoria, where there was a prison that had hospital facilities, and where he died shortly after arrival.

Police said his death was the result of an extended hunger strike, but an autopsy revealed multiple bruises and abrasions and found that he succumbed to a brain haemorrhage from massive head injuries. After a 15-day inquest in 1978, a judge found that there was not enough evidence to charge the officers with murder, since there were no eyewitnesses.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Steve Biko

Commemorated ati

Steve Biko

Steve Biko Court This estate is named in commemoration of Steve Biko, a leadi...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Edward Sears

John Edward Sears

Architect and politician. Studied architecture at University College London and the Royal Academy Schools, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1889. Elected to the...

Person, Architecture, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Sir William Treloar

Sir William Treloar

Born William Purdie Treloar at 7 Holland Street, Blackfriars. Joined his father's business Treloar's Carpet Co.  Also head of a firm of haberdashers, Treloar and Sons.  Lord Mayor of London 1906-7....

Person, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez, OBE

Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez, OBE

Trustee of The Memorial Gates Trust. Mohammed Anwar Pervez was born on 15 March 1935 in Rawalpindi, India (now Pakistan). Our Picture Source and his Wikipedia page give much information about the ...

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration, Pakistan

1 memorial
Swiss Embassy

Swiss Embassy

Rebuilt on its traditional site, 1970.

Place, Politics & Administration, Switzerland

1 memorial
D. F. Johnson

D. F. Johnson

Chairman of HMV Shops Limited in 1984. If the web is anything to go by, unveiling the Nipper plaque is the only significant action Johnson ever took.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial