Date of birth: 18 December 1946, King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Date of death: 12 September 1977, Pretoria prison cell, South Africa

From an early age Steve Biko showed an interest in anti-Apartheid politics. After being expelled from his first school, Lovedale, in the Eastern Cape for ‘anti-establishment’ behaviour, he was transferred to a Roman Catholic boarding school in Natal. From there he enrolled as a student at the University of Natal Medical School (Black Section). Whilst at medical school Biko became involved with the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). But the union was dominated by white liberals and failed to represent the needs of black students, so Biko resigned in 1969 and founded the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO). SASO was involved in providing legal aid and medical clinics, as well as helping to develop cottage industries for disadvantaged black communities.In 1972 Biko was one of the founders of the Black Peoples Convention (BPC) working on social upliftment projects around Durban. The BPC effectively brought together roughly 70 different black consciousness groups and associations, such as the South African Student’s Movement (SASM), which played a significant role in the1976 uprising the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO), and the Black Workers Project (BWP) which supported black workers whose unions were not recognised under the Apartheid regime. Biko was elected as the first president of the BPC and was promptly expelled from medical school. He started working full time for the Black Community Programme (BCP) in Durban which he also helped found.

JEPPES REEF – Matsamo cultural group recently returned home from an overseas trip, which took three months.

The group did not only just returned but also brought home an international trophy after being voted the overall best traditional performers.

The group was touring six countries, which include Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Netherlands and France. While touring Europe, the group was invited to compete during the arts and traditional music competition in Dijon France, where they clinched silver trophy and voted best overall performers and well-dressed group.

One of the artists, Hlengiwe Mhlaba, will be there entertaining the audience during the festival

“The idea behind the festival is to create a platform for local artists to showcase their talent, with the view of creating a market for their music,” said Gofa’s managing director, George Phororo Mthethwa. Mthethwa is the former executive producer at Nelspruit’s Radio News. He further said: “Nkomazi is rich in gospel music singers and the majority of them have already released albums but they don’t have a good market due to the lack of resources. Lack of activities, such as festivals and concerts, rob them of the opportunity to promote their music and make a living out of it. As a result some lose hope and vanish into oblivion, allowing their talents to go to waste.