A Letter to Bandi: In Memory of Nobandile Biko

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In commemorating the recent passing of political activist Ms Nobandile Biko, the sister of struggle icon, Steve Biko, Professor Kriben Pillay said that his own beginnings as an aspirant poet began with his association with Biko 41 years ago in his hometown of East London.

‘I was just out of university, having done my BA degree in English and Drama at the former University of Durban-Westville and Nobandile and I were working for the South African Institute of Race Relations in East London, when she and other members of her family were detained on the eve of the first anniversary of Steve Biko’s death in September 1978. To voice our protest during a highly repressive time in our political history, I wrote one of my first poems, which appeared in the East London Daily Dispatch. A Letter to Bandi later appeared in four other publications, two of which are South African poetry anthologies,’ said Pillay. ‘I am always amazed and humbled at how things take shape in our lives; how totally interconnected we all are.’

Pillay said that he remembers Biko as a warm, bubbly personality, who carried no chip on her shoulder about being the sister of such a famous man.

‘But at the time of our first meeting, it was evident that the deep personal pain of losing Steve was made more intolerable by constant harassment by the then security branch,’ he said. ‘Today we have a whole generation of youth who have no sense of this important era of our country’s history. Nobandile Biko is one of the corner stones of this history in her own way.’

Pillay added that his family, especially his sister Dr Anu Pillay, continued their friendship with Biko, who resided in Cape Town where she worked in projects dealing with housing for the poor. Biko was 70 at the time of her death.

A Letter to Bandi*

This letter comes to you
empty of the things
I wanted to say
empty of the shock, the horror,
the pain of the day
framing only black marks
on a white page
framing only hopes
in a fearful age
this letter comes to you
with all my love
but empty of the things
I wanted to say
framing only black marks
on a white page

*This poem was written on the occasion of the detention of Bandi Mvovo (née Biko), who was detained on 11 September 1978, the eve of the anniversary of her brother Steve Biko’s death. It appears in:

‘A Letter to Bandi’. Voices From Within (anthology). Chapman, Michael; Dangor, Achmat (eds.), Craighall: Ad. Donker, 1982, p. 187.

‘A Letter to Bandi’. Ten Years of Staffrider: 1978-1988. Oliphant, Andries Walter; Vladislavic, Ivan (eds.). Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1989, p. 211.

Photograph: Supplied