Bulelani Mfaco

Growing up in the apartheid ghetto of Khayelitsha in Cape Town, Bulelani Mfaco became involved at an early age in protests for adequate housing, access to land, health care, and improved policing. He was also involved in the Khayelitsha health forum and became branch secretary for the Democratic Alliance. In 2015, he left his native South Africa to study in Ireland but in 2017 he claimed asylum, seeking protection from violence towards and killings of LGBT+ people. He is involved with MASI – The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland where he is campaigning for the right to work for all asylum seekers, to end Direct Provision, and regularisation for undocumented people in Ireland. Bulelani was interviewed by Sorcha Pollak as part of the New to the Parish series of articles in the Irish Times.