By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The inquest into the death of Stephen Bantu Biko has been adjourned to January 30, 2026 for further case management and finalisation of legal representation.
Biko was often touted as Nelson Mandela’s likely successor in the struggle for freedom after the core of the anti-apartheid leadership was jailed in the 1960s.
But his popularity also made him a prime target of the apartheid regime, which put him under banning orders that severely restricted his movement, political activities, and associations; imprisoned him for his political activism; and ultimately caused his death in detention – a case that continues to resonate decades later, largely because none of the perpetrators have ever been brought to justice.
On September 12 this year, 48 years after Biko died, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi ordered a new inquest into his death. The hearing resumed at the Eastern Cape High Court on Wednesday before being postponed to January.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) the matter was postponed so that “persons of interest” may apply for funding for their legal representation, which has to be confirmed before the inquest proceeds.
The National prosecuting authority said in a statement that Biko died on 12 September 1977 after he was allegedly tortured to death by the apartheid regime’s notorious Special Branch, who were never prosecuted because they were cleared by a “whitewash inquest.”
“They were also not granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the dispensation of the democratic government in South Africa,” said regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.
The legal counsel for the Biko family, Advocate Temebeka Ngcukaitobi said that two former security policemen, Johan Beneke, and Daniel Siebert, who are now in their eighties, were persons of interest in the matter.
Tyali, said the reopening of the inquest follows approval of the request from the National Director of Public Prosecutions, which the legal representatives of the Biko family also supported.
He said an inquest in 1977 exonerated the apartheid-era policemen accused of his death.
Tyali said the main goal is to present evidence to the inquest court that will enable the court to make a finding as to whether Biko’s death was brought about by any act or omission that amounts to an offence on the part of any person.
The Biko inquest is one of several probes into suspicious apartheid-era deaths that justice minister reopened this year. The inquiries are part of the government’s plan to address past atrocities and provide closure to families of the deceased, the NPA says.
Biko was a medical student and national youth leader who, in the late 1960s, pioneered the philosophy of Black Consciousness, which encouraged Black people to reclaim their pride and unity by rejecting racial oppression and valuing their own identity and culture.
About 20,000 people, including Black and white anti-apartheid activists and Western diplomats, attended Biko’s funeral in King Williams Town on September 25. The day included a five-hour service, powerful speeches and freedom songs. Though police disrupted the service and arrested some mourners, it marked the first large political funeral in South Africa.
His death sparked international condemnation, including expression of “concern” from Pretoria’s allies, the US and the UK. It also led to a United Nations arms embargo against South Africa in November 1977.
Three years later, the British singer Peter Gabriel released a song in his honour, and in 1987, his life was depicted in the film Cry Freedom, in which Biko was played by Denzel Washington.
Under the apartheid regime, any further investigation into Biko’s death was effectively put to rest for decades following the official 1977 inquest.
Then in 1996, two years after the end of apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to investigate past rights violations, with apartheid-era perpetrators given the opportunity to disclose their crimes and apply for amnesty from prosecution.
Former security police officers Major Harold Snyman, Siebert, Warrant Officer Ruben Marx, Beneke and Sergeant Gideon Nieuwoudt – the five men suspected of killing Biko – applied for amnesty.