Demelza Bush studied journalism, specialising in Television and Photography, for five years at Rhodes University in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. It was there that they first became interested in activism, particularly in opposing homophobia and gender based violence.
In 2008 they won the SABC Young Journalist of the Year Award with two of their classmates, for a mini-documentary on the food crisis in South Africa.
Demelza cut their teeth as a multimedia reporter at the Mail & Guardian for four and a half years. During their time there they covered everything from politics to art but always had a particular interest in LGBTIQ issues and exposing human rights abuses.
Demelza has exhibited their photography in South Africa and Europe. In 2011 they were invited to participate in an exhibition in Brussels entitled Waiting and Watching: South African moments for deBuren, a Flemish-Dutch initiative offering a platform for debate about culture, science, politics and the society.
While working as a journalist Demelza won two Sikuvile Awards for their reporting and in 2012 they became the first ever recipient of the CNN African Digital Journalist of the Year award.
A campaigner for social justice, Demelza believes the world is not for sale, is proudly African and is passionate about exposing human rights violations in Southern Africa.
