Husband's relentless pursuit of justice

IT’S BEEN eight years since a Durban man and his wife were brutally attacked at their home in Silverglen, Chatsworth, by an intern property practitioner from a well-known estate agency, together with three accomplices.

- MERVYN NAIDOO

Loga Pillay's wife, Gona, 66, the former school principal at Southlands Secondary, was strangled and stabbed multiple times, succumbing to her injuries during the incident on September 20, 2017.

Pillay, 77, survived because he had the presence of mind to "play dead" while being stabbed repeatedly by Lungani Basil Underhill, who was working for Pam Golding Properties at the time.

"I miss my wife greatly. There is not a day that I don't think about her. We were together for nearly 40 years until she was taken away from me in a gruesome way," said Pillay, a former educator.

Three of the four men involved in the attack - Basil Underhill, his cousin Braveman Underhill, and Fredboy Msomi - were arrested soon after the incident. They were convicted on charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery for making off with valuables from the home and Pillay's Mercedes-Benz.

All three were sentenced to life imprisonment at the Durban High Court in July 2019.

The fourth accused, Thembinkosi Buthelezi, was eventually arrested in September 2022 and made various appearances at the Chatsworth Magistrates Court thereafter. When the State requested a further adjournment on one occasion, the presiding magistrate refused the application and the charges against Buthelezi were provisionally withdrawn. Since his release, Buthelezi's whereabouts remain unknown.

It pained Pillay that Buthelezi was at large, and he accused the State of not acting decisively.