few and the lesbian community lose great writer and poet

By Zanele Muholi

March 15, 2007: This week I mourn the death of yet another lesbian friend of mine Busisiwe Sigasa, who at a tender age of 25 died unexpectedly.

Busi Sigasa, a brilliant writer, poet, friend and former colleague at the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), has passed away. This happened hardly three (3) months after she embarked on a new position at Standard Bank.

Busi passed away on Monday afternoon, 12 March 2007, at her Soweto home in her mother’s presence after suffering from short breath and other complications. She had just started taking her new medication as she had suffered from sugar diabetes and epilepsy.

Latifah, as she was affectionately known, was born in White City, Soweto in December 23, 1981. She started her primary schooling in Soweto and matriculated at Daliwonga High School in 1998. She then furthered her studies and completed a computer course and obtained a diploma.  She then had an opportunity to study Ceramic Designing Course through a learnership programme and obtained a NQF 4 level certificate.

Busi was fascinated by the arts and spent a lot of time exploring visual arts (drawing) but mostly wrote poems to deal with many issues that she was encountering in her life. 

She was a staunch member of FEW and worked as a Community Representative.  Before then in 2003, Busi was amongst the four womyn who spoke openly about surviving hate crimes especially during the launch of the Rose Has Thorns campaign, which aims to eradicate lesbo-phobic attacks against lesbians.

In 2006 she disclosed her HIV positive status due to a rape incident and urged people to test before it was too late. She was also concerned about sexual behaviours that might put others at risk and begged for urgent workshops to address the issue of Lesbians and HIV/AIDS regarding testing and disclosure.

The last meeting she attended on behalf of FEW was during the 16 Days of Activism for Non-Violence Against Women & Children: Gender Based Violence, Black Lesbians, Hate Speech and Homophobia hosted by Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in December 2006.

As a survivor of rape, it was for this reason that she fully participated in and captured the One In Nine campaign protest with her photography. These photos are now published in different publications. She was one of my best students at the 2006 Photo Experience which aimed at sharing visual knowledge with black lesbians from various townships. Her work is featured in the FEW 2007calendar.

Busi kept her daily online diary in her blog expressing her angst on how the social system and environment can affect one in this country. This is visible in some of the pictures she captured where she dealt with violence, hate crimes, home settings and family.

Her portfolio also shows how she was clear with lesbian rights as women’s rights and human rights.

Outspoken Busi had close interaction with all those who stood tirelessly and fought for women’s rights.

As a member of FEW, she played a major role in organizing, protesting, writing, photographing and representing the organisation credibly in various spaces where she was vocal and against anti-women and children violence in South Africa.

Busi is survived by her mother, stepfather and siblings.

Zanele Muholi is FEW’s programmes officer.