HAVING realised an aircraft had crash-landed and came to rest where waves broke near a beach in Isipingo, south of Durban, the compulsion to save lives kicked in for a fresh-faced lifesaver, who was in the company of friends at the time
With two-metre high waves about and in waters known to be shark-infested, Lenny Pillay led the heroic mission to save about 20 people, which included the captain and a 6-month-old girl, who were on-board the Dakota that encountered engine trouble on December 28, 1973.
He was assisted by his friend, Marie Muthan, and other lifesavers from the neighbouring Amanzimtoti beach.
Pillay, 68, who was a volunteer lifesaver with the local Tiger Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club at the time, has been involved in many daring rescue efforts and recovering dead bodies from the ocean and rivers, over the years.
“A scary mission”, as Pillay prefers to call it, was when he and a crew of four others, using a small motor-powered boat, rescued more than 300 people, some clinging onto roofs, light poles and trees, with raging waters around them, during the floods of April last year.
When the Sunday Tribune team visited Pillay at the scene of the 1973 rescue, the only tangible memories he had were some faded newspaper cuttings and the feeling of accomplishment in his heart.
“I was not concerned about the water, the tide was coming in at that time, or any danger, my concern was the lives of people.”
Pillay said the summer holiday season usually brought back memories of that day; around 2pm, the groan of Dakota circling, its sudden landing, and the bewilderment of the many beachgoers who were present.
The plane was on a return-trip from Maseru, Lesotho and Captain John Winson was on course for touchdown at Durban’s old Louis Botha airport when one of the Dakota’s engines failed.
Winson couldn’t land the plane on the beach either because of the number of people there. He was later commended for landing it smoothly on the water.
At the time, the 19-year-old Pillay was on a nearby hill with friends.
Pillay swung into action, and when he got to the beach, many of the locals, who recognised him, gleefully said “the lifesavers are here.”
As Pillay reached Winson on the craft, he could hear the commotion onboard.
He assured Winson they had nothing to fear because he was a seasoned lifeguard who could get them all to safety.
“The captain said I should take the baby (a 6-month-old girl) first.”
Pillay brought the child to shore, and that’s when he heard people saying the plane was going to explode, which he didn’t believe.
Muthan joined Pillay’s rescue act at that stage.
It took about 30 minutes before all the remaining passengers and the captain were brought safely to shore on a beach that was reserved for people of Indian descent under segregation laws of the time.
Authorities had dug out a river mouth to separate the old “Pay Beach” from the Amanzimtoti beach, which were for whites only .
Pillay said, on the shore, he and other lifeguards had administered basic first aid to some passengers who mostly sustained minor injuries.
“That’s when the racial tensions took a turn for the worst.
“The commotion started with racial slurs from whites who had come across and directed them at us. They basically questioned why we were handling white victims.
“It became a free-for-all when one of our lifeguards, Crabby Munsamy, was kicked. We were extremely angry at the abuse we received and reacted.”
Police eventually restored order.
Through the lens of a pair of binoculars, someone confirmed a body floated about 800 metres from the shore.
Pillay swam out and by the time he got the body to the shore, the strong currents dragged him about 2 km further down the coastline.
The dead woman apparently jumped from the plane when it landed on the water and drowned as she was sucked out to sea.
After all his exertions, Pillay’s hero status was confirmed.
That same day, he and other friends from the tightly-knit Isipingo community congregated at the then popular Island Hotel, where the owners, the Naidoo brothers, provided the congratulatory eats and drinks.
“We lived on 5th Avenue and my family was also extremely chuffed with me.”
Pillay said that some of the people he helped rescue stayed in contact with him after the ordeal and some also made donations to his lifesaving club.
But he is yet to meet the infant he rescued that day.
“I would dearly love to meet her.”
Apart from a few newspaper articles and the Tiger Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club honouring him and the others at a function shortly thereafter, Pillay said he received no further recognition.
In the articles, some of the passengers who were rescued, appreciated that had it not been for Pillay and the others, they might have not made it safely to shore.
“Over the years we have done many rescues. I was never in it for the recognition, it was always about saving lives.”
Pillay said many people drowned at Isipingo Beach in years gone by and he was often called out to recover dead bodies, sometimes late at night and in difficult conditions.
He recalled how he rowed his paddle-ski out to sea for 3km to retrieve one of the Ward brothers who drowned at Isipingo’s tidal pool.
“There was no way I could duck out, people knew me and counted on me to recover their loved ones’ bodies.”
Even in the days when he worked as an artisan for a metalworks company, his boss would give him time off to do rescues and retrievals when police and others required his assistance.
“The April floods was an intense situation”.
Pillay and his crew started their rescue work near the Toyota plant on Joyner Road in Prospecton before they got a call to go to Isipingo Beach.
“The desperation was overwhelming but the unity among the residents is what saved the day.”
He said a 94-year-old woman on a wheelchair was one of the people he rescued.
Pillay said his affinity for the water and courage developed while growing up in the Fynnlands fishing village.
“The Padavattan brothers and my family (Maduray Thorayan) were well known seine netters. Some of our families’ exploits are contained in the book ”Legend of the Tides“ (written by Neelan Govender and Viroshen Chetty).
“I got involved in the 1960s. My older brother Harold Maduray Pillay was a daredevil of the ocean. I got confident being in the water through him and I learnt to skipper a boat from him. He was among a few Indian skippers in those days.
Pillay became a professional lifesaver in the 80s and retired in 2019. In between, he taught youngsters from Isipingo, uMlazi and surrounding areas to be water safe.
These days Pillay, the father of two daughters, enjoys playing golf, fishing and time with his grandchildren.
“Most of all, I want to thank God for keeping me and the others safe whenever we went into the water.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE