“We are deeply saddened to notify you of the passing of our beloved Busisiwe Lurayi. Busisiwe passed away suddenly and was pronounced dead at her residence on Sunday [July 10, 2022] by medical personnel. The reason for her death is still unknown as we await the results of the autopsy report,” the agency’s statement read.
Netflix SA also shared a moving tribute announcing Lurayi’s passing.
The streamer tweeted: “An incredible light has gone out in the South African entertainment industry. We are deeply saddened by the passing of award-winning stage & screen actor Busi Lurayi. We will hold onto the laughs, the beauty & the moments of joy she brought us. #RIPBusiLurayi.”
Busi Lurayi was a South African actress best known for her starring role as Phumzile on the SABC1 sitcom City Ses’la (from 2005-2006 and again in 2010) and its spin-off series Ses’Top La.
In 2006 she won the inaugural SAFTA (South African Film and Television Awards) for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Comedy, for her role as Phumzile.
Lurayi left the show after the first season (she was replaced by Thuli Thabethe) to join the cast of the ITV drama series Wild At Heart starring Amanda Holden of Kiss Me Kate fame, about a British family who relocate to a game reserve in South Africa.
Lurayi plays Thandi, a teacher who home schools the children, in the second season of the show. She is billed as a supporting cast member.
She returned to the role of Phumzile for City Ses’la’s fourth and final season in 2010. Her character then got a spin-off series, Ses’Top La, which premiered in 2012.
In May 2006 she made a guest appearance on the medical drama series ER, playing the role of Sittina in the episode entitled “There Are No Angels Here” (Season 12, Episode 20).
She played the starring role of Winnie Molepo, a lawyer who works for the Sokhulu brothers, in the SABC1 drama series Sokhulu & Partners, since 2008.
In November 2011 she joined the cast of the SABC1 soapie Generations in the role of Swazi Lukhele, a socialite wife who was married to David Lukhele but in the process of divorcing him.
In 2012 she was a main cast member of the Mzansi Magic sitcom S.I.E.S., playing the head of the incompetent government department of Social Impact and Empowerment Strategy.
In 2013 she was the host of the M-Net game show Million Rand Money Drop and in 2014 reprised her role as Phumzile in Season 2 of Ses’Top La.
In 2017 she played the recurring role of Nkuli in Season 2 of the Mzansi Magic prison drama Lockdown and in 2020 she starred as Dr Lungile Asumadu in the SABC2 medical drama series Vutha.
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