Steve Biko's contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa is well known, even if it may not always have been fully acknowledged. But I owe him a debt of gratitude for the major contribution he made to my personal intellectual and political development.

I first met Steve in mid-1967 at a congress of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). Steve was a member of the University of Natal delegation and I was a young member of the University of Cape Town delegation. Born and bred as a middle class, white South African, I had already developed some rather vague liberal ideas as well as a strong mistrust of apartheid, especially after I was forced to endure nine long months of compulsory military service. But at that time my opposition to apartheid was more emotional than intellectual and my understanding of black oppression was at best naive.

Then I met Steve.

The 1967 NUSAS congress, which was held at Rhodes University, was torn apart from the start by the University's decision that African students could not stay in residence on campus during the congress along with their white counterparts. Instead, they had to stay in the township. NUSAS passed a resolution protesting against the University's racism, but for Steve this was not good enough. He made a fiery speech in which he argued that the predominantly white NUSAS leadership needed to take a stronger stand against the University's position – a stand in which they showed their willingness to suffer along with their black counterparts. He proposed that we all embark upon a 24 hour hunger strike.

I was completely blown away by his speech. To start with I had never before heard a black person speak so eloquently and powerfully about the way in which apartheid sought to degrade black people. And, secondly, I had never before been asked to make a personal sacrifice, even for only 24 hours, in support of my anti-apartheid beliefs. I spoke in support of Steve's motion and, along with the majority of the congress, voted for his hunger strike.

During the remainder of that congress I got to know Steve quite well. The first thing that struck me was that he was willing to spend time outside of formal congress sessions with me, a young white student, to help me understand how black people experienced apartheid.