Sue Williamson

Better Lives: Francois Bangurambona

In her series Better Lives, Sue Williamson explores stories of immigrants in search of a better life in a historically contentious South Africa. In an attempt to address and confront xenophobia in South African history, Better Lives series subverts racism and prejudice by emphasizing the immigrant as human, and thus gives the subjects a voice. “Better Lives: Richard Belalufu” tells a tale of surviving in a hostile South Africa through the undercurrent reflections on violence, abuse and the difficulty of finding home as an immigrant. Referring to South African studio-photography, the Better Lives series is a demanding confrontation of the subjects whose gaze answers directly to the viewer. Burundian Francois Bangurambona was a deputy minister in the Hutu government, when Tutsi soldiers came into his office one day asking for the minister who was not there, and as they left, they threw grenades into his office. Luckily for Francois, his driver heard the explosion, came upstairs, and got him in a car and to hospital and on a plane to Kenya. Now Francois runs a car repair business in Nyanga.