Tributes pour in for brave Shirley Bujram
She was to have undergone an operation in Durban but returned home after her daughter-in-law had her bab
Shirley Bujram, a woman who virtually fought a lone battle to bring to justice her activist husband’s killers, was yesterday laid to rest.
Shirley was killed in a car accident on the Greytown road, near New Hanover, on Wednesday afternoon. She and her sister-in-law were travelling back from Durban when their car hit a large pool of water following the heavy rain.
The car went out of control and crashed. Shirley died at the scene while her sister-in-law sustained serious injuries and is still in critical care in hospital.
Members of the ANC, SACP and COSATU all gathered at the Bujram home on Cornhill Street for the funeral service where messages of support and tribute were read out. Shirley was revered as a brave fighter for the downtrodden just as her husband, Grishen, was.
He was shot dead in June 2007 after recovering an RDP housing allocation scam within the Endumeni Municipality. While two people were sentenced to long-term jail time, Shirley always believed that the case was not closed.
Former Mayor, Thandeka Nukani, was originally charged with the murder but was later acquitted. Following countless letters to the Minister of Justice and the National Prosecuting Authority, Shirley managed to have a charge of conspiracy to commit murder brought against Ms Nukani following an allegation that she was behind a plot to poison her nephew, Siyabonga Nukani, who is serving a jail sentence in Waterval Prison, for his part in Grishen’s murder.
The case has dragged on for years with many postponements. On Monday she spoke to the Courier from hospital in Dundee to register her disappointment that the long drawn-out case against Thandeka Nukani was again delayed in Court after neither her (Nukani’s) attorney nor the presiding officer was available.
Sizwe Mchunu who spoke at the funeral on behalf of the SACP said Shirely was about to launch her own SACP branch before her death. She was employed at the Municipality where she worked in the Technical Department. She has suffered illness in recent months and had been in and out of hospital.
She was to have undergone an operation in Durban but returned home after her daughter-in-law had her baby. The Courier expresses deep condolences to the family.
