Steven Bantu Biko
Steven Bantu
A banned senior member of the Black Consciousness Movement who sustained severe brain injuries while being interrogated by members of the Port Elizabeth Security Branch on 6 September 1977. He died of his injuries on 12 September 1977 after being transported in the back of a police vehicle some 1200 km to the Pretoria Central Prison hospital. Five members of the Port Elizabeth Security Branch applied for amnesty for his death, claiming that the injuries had been inflicted accidentally during a violent scuffle. Amnesty was refused (AC/1999/0020).