Navi Pillay’s family roots trace back to Tamil Nadu

NAVI Pillay’s family roots trace back to South India, specifically to Tamil Nadu. Her ancestors migrated to South Africa in the late 19th century as part of the Indian diaspora.

The breakdown of her family lineage and early life includes:

• Grandparents: Both her maternal and paternal grandparents left the Madras Presidency (under British colonial rule) in the 1890s.

They arrived in South Africa under gruelling indenture contracts to work on the sugarcane plantations in the Natal province.

• Parents: Her birth name was Navanethem Naidoo. Her parents, Narrainsamy Naidoo and Santhama Naidoo, were married through a traditional arranged match during their early teens. They lived in Clairwood, a poor neighbourhood and slum area of Durban, South Africa.

• Family Upbringing: Pillay was the fifth of eight children. Her father was a bus driver who also took up commercial fishing to support the large family, while her mother was a homemaker.

Despite their severe financial struggles and the oppressive racial segregation of the apartheid era, her parents defied cultural norms by prioritising education equally for both their sons and daughters.

• Surname Change: She adopted the surname Pillay (another common South Indian/Tamil title) following her marriage to fellow South African attorney Gaby Pillay in 1965.