The Biko memorials stand as counter to the white nationalist marking of the memorial landscape of South Africa.
Bantu Steve Biko, progenitor of the Black Consciousness Movement, was murdered by security police in 1977. There is a statue of Biko in East London; this is larger than life-size, paid for by donations from grandees from elsewhere in the world, and dedicated by Nelson Mandela in 1997. In nearby Ginsberg, Biko’s home town, there is a large and imposing brick entrance to the Biko part of the local graveyard, which takes a Garden of Remembrance form. The other graves are ordinary ones, mainly covered over with metal rails to protect against animals digging. Unlike many memorials to black activists, the Biko site is well visited as part of a heritage trail, and associated with the Steve Biko Centre built by the Steve Biko Foundation.
View the Steve Biko Grave & Memorial gallery here
