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Anti-Apartheid activist, Steve Biko.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has welcomed the re-opening of the inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist, Bantu Steven Biko. The re-opening comes exactly 48 years after Biko died in police custody on 12 September 1977. The High Court in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape today postponed the inquest to the 12th of November for case management.
[LISTEN] Jabu Rakwena, AZAPO Secretary for Legal and Constitutional Affairs believes if government is serious about reopening the Steve Biko inquest it needs to give more resources to the NPA
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DA Federal Chairperson, Helen Zille says there is a lot that needs to be scrutinised following Biko’s death.
“We all know as a fact that he did not die of hunger strike. We know that he died of brain damage and that has been medically established. Then during the course of the inquest, Sydney Kentridge was the QC, he was a senior counsel who was extracting from the policemen that were on duty who have had interactions with Steve Biko in his last days that there had been what they called a scuffle and that he’s head had been hit in the process. There is a lot of information that needs to be collated, needs to be analyzed and needs to be evaluated properly by an objective court of law,” says Zille.
The inquest has been postponed to the 12th of November for case management in the High Court in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.
The state has confirmed that two persons of interest are still alive.
The Biko family says today’s date was chosen for its historic significance.
BREAKING NEWS | Biko inquest to be reopened:
