‘I write what I like’, a recently published collection of the writings of Steve Biko, has an arrogant ring to it but the reader who perseveres through to the end will come out of the experience enriched with a deeper understanding of what the South African political landscape is made up of.
Steve Biko not only has the background and intimate knowledge of black culture and politics but also has a delightful way with the words of the English language, not his mother tongue..
It is especially relevant to the white reader intent on grasping where fellow citizens of South Africa come from and what their aims are as far as a possible future democratically elected government is concerned.
Biko stresses cultural differences in his justification for forming the South African Students Organisation (SASO) in 1969 which was seen by some as a breakaway from NUSAS (National Union of South African Students).
The idea of black people making decisions about their political strategy within or without the apartheid segregation monolith was anathema to many white liberals happy to make decisions on behalf of blacks who weren’t represented in official organisations.
The formation of SASO and other developments were a contributory factor in NUSAS moving towards the right in the 70’s and this went some way to vindicating the decision by Biko and his comrades to form SASO.
A theme running right through the book of short essays and articles is the silencing of effective protest by black people against apartheid through the National Party government defining the parameters within which they may debate. This occurred with colleges specifically limited to certain groupings with Fort Hare for the Xhosa and others for Zulu, Sotho and Indians.
Biko maintains that acquiescing and playing the game of limited debate within government demarcated parameters is one destined to embarrassment and failure.
The book focuses almost exclusively on student politics and may not be accessible to the non student reader. However, the deeper ramifications of what Biko has to say about Black Consciousness has relevance for anybody living in South Africa at this moment in time.
In speaking about African culture, Biko says, “Westerners have in many occasions been surprised at the capacity we have for talking to each other – not for the sake of arriving at a particular conclusion but merely to enjoy the communication for its own sake.”
“These are things never done in the westerner’s culture. A visitor to someone’s house, with the exception of friends, is always met with the question ‘what can I do for you’? This attitude to see people not as themselves but as agents for some particular function either to one’s disadvantage or advantage is foreign to us. We are not a suspicious race.”
This book raises deep issues and asks serious questions of the people of South Africa, both black and white. It would be interesting to be able to see what becomes of this book in thirty years time.
Published by the Bowerdean Press, London 1978.
