Rajaluxmi Pillay (also known as Rajes) was born in 1944 in Pietermaritzburg and grew up in Kimberley. She studied in Britain between 1963 and 1966, before returning to South Africa and settling in Durban. She continued her studies at the University of Natal, where she became assistant secretary to the Students Representative Council (SRC) and came under the influence of activists such as Paul David, Steve Biko and Ben Ngubane.
During the 1970s, Rajes came into contact with the ANC underground and was recruited in the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. Rajes was an active member of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC). She worked very closely with people such as Phyllis Naidoo, M D Naidoo, Cassim Amra and AKM Docrat. She also worked a lot with the South African Council of Churches (SACC).
In 1979, she was forced to go into exile in Swaziland. When they were forced to leave Swaziland, Rajes went to Maputo, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and was eventually sent to Angola.
Pillay returned to South Africa in 1990, having spent 12 years in exile. Rajes passed away on 29 December 2020 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
