TO commemorate the 41st anniversary since the death of Bantu Steve Biko, the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC) in partnership with the Steve Biko Foundation held a memorial at the Steve Biko Centre in Ginsberg on Wednesday September 12.
Bantu Steve Biko was born on 18 December 1946 in King William’s Town and died on 12 September 1977 in a police cell in Pretoria after being assaulted by police. He was one of South Africa’s most significant political activists and a leading founder of South Africa’s Black Consciousness Movement.
DSRAC MEC said Biko played a huge role in the democracy.
“Steve Biko fell in the trenches with his military boots on in advancement of the struggle for national liberation, freedom and democracy after a severe and brutal assault by state security officers on 12 September 1977. That was a black day in contemporary South Africa’s history, when a young activist, merely 30 years old, had to pay the ultimate price to ensure South Africans attained freedom and democracy in our lifetime,” she said.
The MEC assured that the Department will continue to work closely with the Steve Biko Foundation to ensure the day is commemorated annually without fail.
“The Department will continue to support the Steve Biko Foundation to plow the seed into the youth to begin to understand and appreciate that they have an important role to play in society to ensure South Africa develops socially and economically. The youth are tomorrow’s leaders and the future is in their hands, hence it is critical for them to be empowered with the necessary knowledge and skills to make SA a better place to live in,” she said.
