📍Ginsberg, Qonce (King William's Town), Eastern Cape, South Africa
1946 – 1977“I grew up in Ginsberg, a small township outside King William's Town in the Eastern Cape, where my family moved when I was a baby. My father, Mzingaye, worked as a policeman and then as a clerk, and died when I was four. My mother, Alice, raised my brother, my two sisters and me alone, working as a domestic servant and later as a cook at Grey Hospital in King William's Town. We were poor, but our home was full of love, and the township was a close community where everyone knew everyone. I was bright at school, and the community raised money so that I could study further. At Lovedale, a famous mission school, I was expelled after my brother was arrested for political activity, though I had done nothing wrong; the experience made me angry about the injustice of apartheid. I finished school at St Francis College in Mariannhill and went to medical school in Durban, where I founded the South African Students' Organisation and developed the philosophy of Black Consciousness: that Black people must free their minds first and take pride in who they are. In 1973 the government banned me and restricted me to King William's Town, so I came home to Ginsberg. There I worked with the community, helped build the Zanempilo clinic and other community projects, and continued to meet people secretly. In 1977 I was detained by the security police and did not come home. My ideas spread across South Africa and the world. I rest in the garden of remembrance in King William's Town, and Ginsberg is home to the Steve Biko Centre, a museum, library and community centre where young people gather.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today