South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko

Date: 17 May 1978
Updated: 17 May 2021

When Steve Biko was found dead on a cold cement floor in a Pretoria prison, police claimed that he died of hunger strike. The following investigation failed to produce concrete evidence and was officially closed on 17 May 1978.It was only in 1985 that the real circumstances surrounding Biko’s death were officially revealed and the people involved brought to book, including the police officers that assaulted him and the two doctors who treated him just before his death.

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01SAHO Biko, Stephen Bantu, [online], Available at: www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed on 9 May 2013]
02News 24, How Biko died, [online] Available at: www.news24.com [Accessed on 9 May 2013]

Last updated · 17 May 2021

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, May 10). South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095630

South African History Online (2013) 'South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko', South African History Online, 10 May. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095630 (Accessed: 24 August 2026).

South African History Online, South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095630, (accessed 24 August 2026).

"South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko." South African History Online, 10 May 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095630. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko." South African History Online. May 10, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095630.