Two decades of delivering newspapers through ‘sun, rain and snow’

‘THROUGH sun, rain and snow,’ people know as the postman’s motto expounding their dedication to the job. Well, uMhlanga has Utheran Pillay, known by locals as Rocky. Pillay delivers newspapers to La Lucia, uMhlanga Ridge and uMhlanga Rocks almost every day of the year, twice a day. The newspaper delivery man said he delivers even in thunderstorms. Rocky said the 2016 July flash floods that caused major damage across the north Durban suburbs were no deterrent.

“I cycled through it. I found somewhere to shelter and made sure that my papers were covered in plastic. Plastic does the job keeping them dry – that’s very important. The wind was strong and the water was coming from everywhere,” he recalled.

His day starts at 11:30pm the night before. He says a van picks him up at 12:30 am from his home in Phoenix to take him to work. He makes his first deliveries to La Lucia in the van, then Pillay is dropped off at the end of Forest Drive to deliver by foot through uMhlanga Rocks until he collects his bike from one of the hotels in Lagoon Drive – where he leaves it over night – to continue his rounds to the rest of uMhlanga on the other side of the M4.

This has been Pillay’s routine for 21 years. What’s more, he has through 10 bicycles since he began delivering newspapers, first to Malvern back in 1979. “I delivered to all of the area when it used to be small houses and sugar cane fields. It used be quiet then. It was far to walk between the houses and there weren’t many paved roads,” he remembered.

uMhlanga resident, Mary-Lou Maguire said, “I’ve lived here for many years now and Rocky’s seen my children grow up to become adults and have kids of their own. He adds a sense of community to the area even though he may not be our neighbour. We see him twice a day, always with a smile, a ‘hello’ and a wave.”

Pillay is an avid sports fan, “I love playing sports. I also enjoy watching it. My favourite sports team is Liverpool and I also support local teams like Amazulu FC and the Sharks.”

Despite being 60 years-old, the father of three says he still enjoys his job, and says that he loves the exercise he gets from it. “What I enjoy most is the love from the people. I’ve gotten to know the families. I even know the dogs names and sometimes they’ll listen to me,” Pillay said.