We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2018
1946
December 18: Stephen Bantu Biko is born in Tylden, in the Eastern Cape, to Mzimgayi and Alice Nokuzola Biko.
1951
Biko's father dies.
1965
Completes his high school education at Mariannhill, a Roman Catholic mission school in KwaZulu-Natal.
1966
Enrols as a medical student at the University of Natal, Non-European section in Wentworth, Durban.
Joins the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), a nonracial student body dominated by whites.
1968
Grows frustrated with NUSAS's reluctance to adopt a more radical stance.
Together with black students breaks away from NUSAS. Forms the black South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) at Turfloop in Limpopo and is elected President. SASO's primary mission is to address the inferiority complex of black students.
Biko begins to write prolifically in the SASO newsletter under the pseudonym Frank Talk.
1970
Marries Nontsikelelo (Ntsiki) Mashalaba.
1972
Focuses increasingly on activism and neglects his studies. Is finally expelled from the university.
Begins to work with the Black Community Programmes (BCP) in Durban. The BCP addresses the problems of black workers, whose unions are not recognised by the government.
Biko and his fellow activists see the need for a Black Consciousness organisation that will operate beyond university campuses.
The Black People's Convention (BPC) is launched.
1973
The government bans Biko for five years, prohibiting him from speaking in public, writing for publication or travelling. He is restricted to King William's Town in the Eastern Cape
Despite being banned, he helps create various grassroots projects including the Zanempilo Clinic.
1975
Forms the Zimele Trust Fund (for the support of ex-political prisoners) and the Ginsberg Educational Trust. Is detained for 137 days and released without being charged.
1976
The South African Students’ Movement, influenced by the BCM, is formed at high schools throughout the country.
June 16: Students launch protests against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools. The result is the ‘Soweto uprisings’, which spread throughout the country.
Biko is elected Honorary President of the BPC
He is a key defence witness in the Saso/BPC trial, which runs from 31 January 1975 to 21 December 1976. The nine trialists are sentenced to long jail terms on Robben Island.
1977
Biko is arrested in March, detained and released.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
