In an interview with the POST, Pillay said the decision to step down from Parliament was made with a “heavy heart”. After more than two decades in community activism and politics, ANC Member of Parliament (MP) Brandon Pillay will step down from active duty after the elections to focus on his family and community. Picture: Jehran Naidoo/POST
After more than two decades in community activism and politics, ANC Member of Parliament (MP) Brandon Pillay, will step away from public life after the elections to focus on his family and community
This comes after the tragic, violent deaths of three of his brothers.
In 1999, Trevor Subramoney, 21, was stabbed to death near his home in Bayview. Seelan Pillay, 49, and Terrance (Spoons) Subramoney, 48, were killed in drive-by shootings in 2022 and 2023, respectively, on Lenny Naidu Drive, in Bayview.
Pillay also had to deal with the death of his parents – who passed separately, soon after Trevor’s murder.
The loss of his brothers had placed a financial and emotional burden on Pillay and other family members, who have to take care for their extended families.
In an interview with the POST, Pillay said the decision to step down from Parliament was made with a “heavy heart”.
But he believes there is a silver lining and purpose as the Bayview Ubuntu Community Centre nears completion.
His long standing relationship with businessman and Sibaya Trust chairperson, Vivian Reddy, saw the birth of this centre.
He hopes the centre will transform the Bayview community and help it realise its full potential.
Pillay said that Reddy had pledged his support through the trust and he was “grateful beyond measure” after the businessman followed through on his promise.
“It's actually a beacon of hope and I think our community needed this. A community that has been forgotten or pushed-aside by the government.”
Looking back on his career with the ANC and the Bayview Residents Flats Association – which was started by the late anti-apartheid activist Fatima Meer – Pillay said it had been an emotional journey.
“Soon after I matriculated from Chatsworth Secondary School, the Bayview Residents Flats Association under the leadership of the late Professor Fatima Meer, and now Professor Ashwin Desai, was launched. It's been 25 years since then.
“Fast forward to my joining the ANC, studying and trying to reach higher through my studies, I served on multiple party structures from branch secretary to chairman. I was also a zone member and eventually landed as a candidate for the ANC in Ward 69.
“That local government election took place on my 35th birthday. It was May 18, 2011, and I remember that it was the first time the ANC had won a ward in Chatsworth. We contested again in 2016 but lost. Then it was the Covid-19 pandemic and I was on the list of national candidates who were going to be shortlisted to Parliament. The ANC then made the decision to deploy me to Parliament.
“I think the feeling that comes to mind most is appreciation and I have the ANC to thank for that. I think the party recognised me, my capabilities and abilities and I only had the opportunity to serve because of that,” Pillay lamented.
He said his community activism was sparked soon after Trevor’s death.
“Trevor was killed in this community. He was stabbed once on the neck. By the time we got him to hospital it was too late. I decided then that this community needed to change. It needed leaders, but more than that it needed development and empowerment.
“While it was a turning point for me and my parents, both their health steadily deteriorated. My dad had a triple heart bypass and a stroke before he passed on. A few years later, my mum passed on. At the time we also lost Professor Meer and at that point I almost began to accept that loss was a part of life.
“Little did I know that I would lose the brother who protected this community through the policing forum. I didn’t know he was going to be shot and killed in October 2022,” Pillay said.
Seelan Pillay was about to jump into his vehicle when a car stopped near him and gunmen opened fire.There have not been any arrests since his death and Pillay said the investigation was a “dead end”.
“Then Terrance was killed. Again, a drive by shooting with no answers, nothing. My brothers have become another statistic. I have seen high profile matters that get attention but what about the ordinary people?
“The guy who killed Trevor was in prison for three and a half years while awaiting trial. He was later acquitted of all charges.
“There are hundreds of families out there who suffered a similar loss. I hope that for them and their children there is some kind of closure,” Pillay said.