Nomination of the Steve Biko Centre as a National Heritage Site

The site is 6 742 square metres in size, on a gradually sloping gradient facing North, located
on the South bank of the Buffalo River at the entrance to Ginsberg Township from Qonce
(formerly King William’s Town). It is bound by Notarial Deed of Tie to Erf 2375 (Portion of Erf
1888 of Ginsberg) (1727 square metres in extent) which has been finished as a parking lot .

Improvements on the site consist of a two-storey with sub basement brick and concrete
Structure under steel roof with a total floor area of 6208 square metres. The building
contains spaces fitted out and equipped as:
Main Exhibition and adjoining Temporary Exhibition with preparation and store rooms
Library incl reading & periodical rooms, e-learning=computer centre, childrens’ library
Archive
Training and conferencing rooms of various sizes
Amphitheatre
Auditorium
Main kitchen adjoining restaurant and lounge and Satellite kitchen
Retail outlet, Bank ATM,
Business Centre
Administration offices
Public and Staff ablution facilities and back of house including staff canteen

A landscaped Commemorative garden with a surface area of 511,7 square metres, that acknowledges and honours those activists who died in apartheid detention, completes the northern part of the site.


Short History of the Site: (Please expand on additional pages if necessary)

Established in 1998, the vision of the Steve Biko Foundation is to be the premier independent promoter of the values Steve Biko lived and died for: restoring people to their true humanity. The Foundation pursues this ideal through a variety of programs in the areas of: Arts, Culture and Identity; Community Health; Economic Justice; Education; Sports Development; and Public Lectures, Seminars and Publications.
Through these interventions SBF seeks to:
 Create spaces for critical analysis and engagement with vital socio-economic and political issues in order to strengthen democracy
 Foster the intangible but essential community building blocks: history, identity, culture and values, as the foundation of leadership and agency at the level of the individual and the community
 Develop leadership at every level to enhance civic participation in the political, economic and cultural life of society
 Inculcate the principle of self-reliance and assist in diminishing degrees of uncertainty and vulnerability in the lives of the economically disadvantaged
 Nurture and affirm fundamental human values

With the support of the Departments of (then) Arts and Culture and of Tourism, and the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, the Steve Biko Foundation developed the Steve Biko Centre to focus on translating global interest in the legacy of anti-apartheid activist Bantu Stephen Biko into a developmental resource for the region. The Steve Biko Centre was conceived, following international review of best practice in legacy institutions, as the laboratory in which the programmes of the Steve Biko Foundation are developed and completed. Often, when articulating the developmental agenda, housing, electricity and water are at the fore of discourse; less emphasis is placed on the intangible, yet equally important aspects of heritage, culture and history. The Steve Biko Centre contributes to both facets of development, serving as an intellectual resource, while providing an economic opportunity for the region.
For this reason the Steve Biko Centre is designed as both a destination for the tourist and a vehicle for greater cultural awareness and economic development for the local community. It has become a living monument that utilizes memory to channel local energies towards contemporary development challenges. As such, the principal objectives of the Steve Biko Centre are to:
 Educate the Public about the Leadership of Biko and His Contribution to Freedom and Democracy
 Utilize Heritage as a Tool for Fostering Social Cohesion
 Contribute to Poverty Eradication through the Development of Cultural Industries

The Ginsberg community itself, while dating physically from the early 1900’s, justifiably boasts of being part of the Eastern Cape’s extraordinarily intense history dating back to the Frontier Wars against British colonial settler occupation with many residents besides Biko being active in the liberation struggle against apartheid. The Centre, located at the entrance to the township has been built on fields where the youth of the township played soccer and provided early warning to residents of approaching security force vehicles coming across the river to invade the community. Paying tribute to this location, a central corridor was designed into the structure to incorporate the same view over the Buffalo River.

In addition to being a comprehensive experience in itself, the Steve Biko Centre is the cornerstone of a series of Biko related sites in the Eastern Cape, which have been nominated and graded as national heritage sites and consistently garner both local and international attention. Among them are:
 The Biko Statue, Oxford Street, East London
 Biko Bridge, Settler’s Way, East London
 Zanempilo Clinic, Zinyoka
 Biko’s Home, Ginsberg Township, King William’s Town
 Biko’s Office, 15 Leopold Street, King William’s Town
 Biko’s Grave, The Steve Biko Garden of Remembrance, King William’s Town
Beyond its national status, elements of the Trail are also part of the National Heritage Council’s National Liberation Route and are included in multiple listings on UNESCO’s interim list of World Sites. which delineates global sites of cultural and natural significance.

Given its multi-faceted approach to social development, poverty alleviation and cultural awareness, this initiative has received the active endorsement of community members, local authorities and the national government. The Steve Biko Centre, due to the positive social and economic impact it was planned to have on the region and the nation, was recognized by Cabinet as a National Legacy Project, i.e. an initiative of national historic and cultural significance such as Robben Island and Freedom Park.

Subsequent to the construction of the Centre, the Archival collection of materials related to Bantu Stephen Biko, and the Black Consciousness Movement that has been built up by the Foundation over the past 25 years to become a globally acknowledged resource for academics and researchers was moved into a dedicated venue at the Centre. There are a limited number of physical artefacts as a consequence of restrictions impacting both Biko and his family, colleagues and acquaintances under the Notice in Terms of Section 9 (1) of the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 aka “a banning order”, and some of these are on protected display as part of the main exhibition. A comprehensive collection, however, of documents and publications has additionally been drawn together from national and international sources, many of which have been digitized, and these resources are continuously being added to as new items are discovered through relationships established with other institutions.