Sandton Guardians founder Luewellyn Pillay passed away following a long battle with illness

A community leader in Kelvin, who dedicated his time to improving the safety of Sandton residents, has passed away following a long infection related to a double lung transplant he underwent last year.

Luewellyn Pillay played a pivotal role in the Sandton Guardians and the Kelvin Residents Association and was passionate about his community. Pillay’s efforts to improve community safety began in 2016 following the murder of a woman down the street from his home. This tragedy motivated him to play an active role in keeping his family and community safe.

A short time later, another shooting on his street made Pillay aware that in the event of an emergency, he was not prepared. Pillay’s wife Harsha, recounted how Pillay had reacted at the time. “He said to me that we need to be prepared, we need to have things in place, we need to call first responders, he would always grapple with all these things,” she said.

“That’s when he developed this plan on how we should behave and what to do, that’s how the Kelvin Guardians came about.”

Harsha added that Pillay tackled everything in his life with vigour and confidence. Soon the Kelvin Guardians, which sees ordinary community members patrolling their neighbourhoods on the lookout for any suspicious activity, had grown incredibly. He also joined the Sandton Community Policing Forum to further help his community.

Prem Byjnal, a dear friend of Pillay’s, said the Kelvin Guardians programme had grown from about 35 members to more than 150 members with an additional 100 members expected to join by the end of the year.

“He wanted to make sure that the kids and I were always safe, that the kids could ride their bikes on the road,” added Harsha.

“So he knew he had to make Kelvin safe so he put everything in place to try to do that and then that wasn’t enough, so he went from Kelvin to the greater Sandton sector.”

Pillay had a corporate background with no previous experience in community safety, however, according to his wife, he was an overachiever in everything he did, and once he had committed himself to community safety he dedicated his time to learning all he could to do the best job possible.

Byjnal highlighted the incredible changes Pillay made while he was the chairperson of the Kelvin Residents Association and said he had an incredible talent for identifying people’s strengths and allowing each individual to focus on that.

Harsha and Byjnal recounted numerous improvements they had seen not only within their community but in the greater Sandton area thanks to Pillay’s efforts and said in the years to come, community members would still be able to feel these changes.

Pillay passed away on 13 March following a long struggle with an infection related to a double lung transplant. He leaves behind his wife and two daughters, as well as many friends, family and community members who considered him to be family.

Pillay’s funeral was held on 16 March with overwhelming support from the community. Harsha said she was caught by surprise during the funeral procession from their home as the streets of Kelvin were lined with community members. “People stood outside their homes, some had signs saying ‘RIP’ and ‘Thank You’.

“The entire community rallied together and had taken over the preparations for the funeral, and food and groceries had arrived daily for the family. Kelvin has truly shown what a community is about and I’m forever grateful,” concluded Harsha.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/194235/sandton-guardians-serve-eyes-ears-community/