Biko irked as police probe into domestic violence charges drags on

Hlumelo Biko is frustrated by the police’s delay in finalising the investigation into his domestic violence case.

The son of anti-apartheid icons Steve Biko and Mamphela Ramphele is charged with assaulting a woman close to him on New Year’s Day.

Biko‚ 40‚ appeared in Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday when his lawyer‚ Roy Barendse‚ told TimesLIVE the investigation was incomplete and witness statements were still outstanding.

“It is very inconvenient for him [Biko] to appear all the time. Unfortunately we have to go through the motions‚” said Barendse.

“We can only get access to the docket when the investigation is complete.”

Biko is yet to plead to the charges but Barendse said he intended to plead not guilty. The matter was postponed until April. Biko is out on a warning.

Western Cape police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk told TimesLIVE in January that “a 27-year complainant opened a case of assault” on New Year’s Day.

Ramphele was five months pregnant with her son in 1977 when she learned that Steve Biko‚ with whom she was having an affair‚ had been killed in police custody.