Latest inquest into South Africa's struggle icon Steve Biko could lead to prosecution

The Black Consciousness Movement founder died in 1977 at the age of 30, a month after his arrest at a roadblock for violating a ban order and allegedly distributing "subversive" pamphlets advocating arson and violence. He was detained under the Terrorism Act, leading to his transfer to Pretoria, where he died six days later from extensive brain damage sustained while in police custody. His movement sought to restore the dignity of Black South Africans under apartheid’s psychological oppression.

Police initially claimed Biko had injured himself by hitting his head against a wall, but it later emerged that he had been assaulted. In 1994, former officers admitted to assaulting Biko at the end of apartheid, yet none of them were prosecuted. Five policemen allegedly tortured him in detention, and his death sparked outrage across the country.

Speaking to the BBC on the 48th anniversary of his father's death, Nkosinathi, who was just six at the time, stated that South Africa cannot progress until its violent past is adequately addressed. He spoke on the sidelines of the first hearing at the High Court in the city of Gqeberha, Eastern Cape province, where it was revealed that two officers linked to the case, now in their 80s, remain at large.

"We have no doubt that a democratic court, in a democratic state, will find that Steve Biko's murder was an act, orchestrated and executed by those who were with him, the five policemen who are implicated in this case," Nkosinathi said.

The inquest comes five months after President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered a judicial inquiry into alleged political interference in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.