DR KOGIELAM ARCHARY
Born in August, Women’s Month, Rajes Pillay (1944 to 2020) was a liberation icon and sacrificed her life for our freedom. She is the only known South African female of Indian indentured heritage uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) soldier, who courageously fought and put her life on the line for our country.
An “In Conversation” with Sinthi Qono, aimed at paying tribute to Pillay, will be hosted on August 18 from 11am at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Derby Street, Durban.
Pillay had no children of her own but was a motherly figure to many in the struggle. She took care of the new recruits, lent an ear to those who were tortured and held the hands of many who were constantly on the run. Running from the state security forces, with fellow comrades and towards freedom, Pillay was born on August 4, 1944, and would have turned 80 this month.
Was Pillay an unsung hero? Her fellow combatants, friends and others will disagree. They cherished and loved her and considered her as one of our greatest heroes. Those unknown to her, perhaps scholars researching the anti-apartheid struggle, would not know that there was a “Pillay” in the Struggle. Yet, towards our struggle history, Pillay had contributed to numbers, being a soldier of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
She was one of the few who was prepared to carry a gun and to fight not only the White minority regime in South Africa, but also the might of imperialism.
Pillay contributed positively to our history.
After 1989, our fighters were sorely disappointed. It affected, detrimentally, the hopes and dreams of all progressive forces to this day. The balance of forces had tilted in favour of reaction. Pillay was no exception. She was prepared to go back into exile and fight against reaction.
A publication entitled “Beyond Borders from Swaraj to Swaziland: Rajes Pillay’s Journey from Exile to Freedom” compiled by Dr Kogielam Archary, Indu Moodley and Sinthi Qono is housed at the Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
It was written to remember, honour and keep alive the struggle history of Pillay, who died on December 29, 2020.
It was also to lobby for the preservation of the Struggle history of all those who fought against the settlers, colonialism and apartheid in our country.
Qono has referred to Pillay as a “hero”.
“Together with others, she planted a tree, the fruit of which we eat today. Albeit the fruit are somewhat rotten, we hope the tree will soon recover. Rajes often wondered why after democracy, children still use pit toilets at school. The positive economic road, which we had chosen in 1994, changed for the worse after a few years. The National Democratic Revolution became blurred. These situational forces brought much trauma to Rajes, who had regularly voiced her opinion. Rajes and her fellow fighters believed in a path of development, which would ultimately lead to a system with no unemployment, no hunger, proper housing for all and a society with a caring and progressively educated world outlook.”
For details of the “In Conversation”, see the Facebook page 1860 Heritage Centre.
Dr Kogielam Archary is a research associate at the University of South Africa.