Summary: Babalwa Budaza, a grassroots activist, organises residents of Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province to fight for proper service delivery and job creation. An organiser for the Unemployed People's Movement, a pressure group that builds solidarity with the unemployed, Budaza mobilises residents to stand for their rights in Makana. Budaza’s work has challenges: She sacrifices her family time as well as income, since she is not paid for her community work. In addition, Budaza's work is seen as a threat to politicians, which puts her life in danger.

Profile: Babalwa Budaza hails from a family of activists, which doesn’t always make her feel optimistic: “I come from the bloodline of Jeff Budaza, who was assassinated. and I worked with the late Ayanda Kota, who was eventually assassinated for his activism. Both were leading activists.”

Formed in 2009 collectively with Ayanda Kota, the Makana-based Unemployed People's Movement (UPM) fights for access to water and a proper sanitation system, as well as a clean community. In 2018 Budaza and her colleagues launched a ferocious campaign against the increase of poverty, inequality, unemployment, and poor service delivery in Makana Municipality. Her duties were to collect information, photos, and videos in order to mobilise the community to bring a High Court case that would have Makana Municipality dissolved for failing to deliver service to the community as per its constitutional mandate.

“It made an impact,” remembers Budaza, “because we won the case and Makana Municipality was the first municipality in South Africa to be dissolved.”

In 2024, UPM partnered with residents' forums to fight for service delivery following a water crisis in Makana. And in July 2025 Budaza organised her community to protest a local principal’s abuse of others, leading to his suspension.

An advocate of decent housing, Budaza and UPM are currently challenging a decision by the Makana Municipality to pursue litigation against residents who seek to establish an informal settlement: “This decision is deeply troubling, especially in the context of a long-standing housing crisis that the municipality has failed to adequately address. Instead of prioritizing sustainable solutions or engaging meaningfully with affected communities, the municipality has chosen to suppress the most basic human need, the need for shelter. Many of the people have been on housing waiting lists for years. Promises have been made and broken. The municipality’s failure to deliver housing has directly contributed to the rise in homelessness.”

Budaza’s work is not without challenges:

“I have sacrificed most of my family time, and as a full-time activist who is unpaid, I have sacrificed an income. During busy times, we mostly sacrifice our health because we work around the clock,” said Budaza. “We face many risks from different groups, such as powerful people in the council and people who oppose social movements. The risk is great because Makhanda is a very small town and activists mainly walk everywhere. Everybody knows where all the activists live, and we do not have an income to put security gates on our homes or really have any security measures.”

The challenges, however, have not stopped Budaza at all:

“I am in the struggle not for my personal gain but I am fighting for the community. Whilst there are a lot of difficult situations, I am not going to leave activism, because it's my passion.”