The reopened inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist and Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) leader Stephen Bantu Biko has been adjourned to January 30 for further case management and to finalise legal funding for two apartheid-era policemen.
The prosecution told the Gqeberha high court on Wednesday that there were two people of interest in the matter who are still alive.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the two former police officers had applied for the state to fund their legal representation, which has to be confirmed before the inquest proceeds.
Biko died on September 12 1977 after he was tortured by members of the notorious Special Branch, who were never prosecuted because they were cleared by a whitewash inquest. They were not granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) after the advent of SA’s democratic government.
Tyali also said the inquest into the killing of five children by the SA Defence Force in 1993 was postponed by the Mthatha high court on Wednesday to November 24, also for case management.
He said the inquests followed the approval by the justice minister of requests by the national director of public prosecutions. “The main goal of holding them is to lay before the court evidence that will enable the court to make a finding in terms of the Inquests Act as to whether the deaths were brought about by any act or omission which prima facie involves or amounts to an offence on the part of any person.”
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