DIARY OF A BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS TOWER WHO SURVIVED APARTHEID BRUTALITY TO TELL THE STORY

By

Mzukisi Madlavu

August 18, 2025, marked 48 years since Black Consciousness father Steve Biko was arrested in a roadblock with his confidant and comrade, Peter Cyril Jones. The writer, a BC anti-apartheid activist and a contemporary of Biko, recounted the events of that fateful roadblock and that resulted in Biko’s assassination in police custody on September 12, 1977.

The writer was arrested prior to Biko and Jones by the notorious apartheid police who operated with impunity as they sought to quell Black rebellion against the tyranny of apartheid.

**Peter Cyril Jones** standing beside a portrait of his comrade, friend and confidante: Steve Biko

Madlavu elaborates as follows:

“The ‘Rooi Hell Prison‘ was the Port Elizabeth prison, referred to as Rooi Hell Prison, which was a pseudonym used to refer to the brutal violence meted out to the prison inmates. The name ‘Rooi Hell Prison’ was popularized outside the prison by former inmates.

Prior to comrade Steve Biko’s arrival, the Rooi Hell Prison was populated mainly by inmates who were arrested for the Kariega/Uitenhage June 16 1977 Uprisings in which I had also participated and led. The Kariega Students Uprising was also joined by two groups of the lumpen Proletariat or “gangsters” who were persuaded by us to stop fighting against each other but join the student march. On arrival at the Rooi Hell Prison, they informed the gangster members that they were arrested for Black Power activities.

*A Map showing the location of the Rooi Hell Prison, which today is named the North End Prison, in Gqeberha, South Africa (image/map: SAHRIS)*

The Apartheid Security Police or ‘Special Branch’ detained me at the “Rooi Hell prison”, prior to the detention of comrade Steve Biko but quickly removed me to a different prison, Kinkelboss.

**Veteran BCM Activist Mzukisi Madlavu, the author of this article**

Comrade Peter Jones was sent to Kinkelboss Prison situated on the periphery of Gqeberha as one travels from Makhanda. He joined me in the prison as he was in the adjacent prison cell, naked and unwashed. We alternated our “visits” of the Sanlam Offices, the place of torture and interrogation. Cde Steve Biko also participated in these “visits “. Subsequently, we would all be returned to our respective police station cells.

**The Father of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Bantu Biko** (image: Global South Africans Network)

Comrade Steve Biko was, in effect, detained in three different prisons at Gqeberha before he was transferred to Tshwane. He spent a short period of time at the ‘Rooi Hell Prison’ and he was transferred to the second prison, Algoa Park Prison. He was then moved to the Warmer Prison.

This was consistent with the apartheid security police belief that a political detainee should not be kept in one prison environment for too long, especially those detained under section of the Terrorism Act. The political detainee should be kept in different prisons in order to ensure that his /her whereabouts are unknown and that he/she does not psychologically adapt to the prison environment. Thus, the movement from one prison to the other was a form of psychological trauma.

Comrade Peter Jones was also detained in different prisons during that period. He was transferred from Kinkelboss to Algoa Park Prison and I was also shifted to another prison.

*Peter Jones pictured beside a portrait of his younger self*

Author

Mzukisi Madlavu

Mzukisi Madlavu is a Veteran Black Consciousness Activist who survived apartheid's police brutality. He led the Economic Desk of the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) and is credited with writing the AZAPO Economic Policy. All views expressed are his own.