Vanessa Burger

Vanessa Burger is an accidental activist [hate the handle actually], having unintentionally become involved in eThekwini hostel issues around 2008/9, when xenophobic attacks threatened Umbilo immigrant communities. Burger mostly tries to assist victims of police corruption and brutality but has also worked on gender-based violence and substance abuse issues –- always in very poor communities [the rich have the resources to sort themselves out]. Burger supports her community efforts with freelance design work [and I would be most grateful to the SAPS/KZN ANC if they could kindly locate the ‘organisations’ who supposedly ‘fund’ me]. She has lived all my life in Durban but have travelled extensively around Africa because, despite everything else, it’s here that humanity shines brightest -– in tiny villages, desert settlements, migrant communities, informal settlements and yes, in hostels wars too.