The DA ward councillor for Tongaat, Brian Soobramoney Jayanathan (63), died yesterday after a long battle with cancer.
Jayanathan was known as a champion of the ordinary man, and was never one to shy away from tackling controversial issues, including the alleged irregularities that led to the collapse of a section of the Tongaat Mall, a project of Durban property developer Jay Singh.
In a 2013 newspaper interview in The Daily News, Jayanathan lambasted housing developments put up by the property mogul, calling them “shocking”. Singh retaliated in print by accusing DA councillors, including Jayanathan and Heinz de Boer, ward councillor for Durban North, of having a vendetta against him, saying: “I can tell you this Tongaat Mall fiasco started because of a DA conspiracy against me.”
At a DA-hosted Human Rights Day event last year in the Belvedere Peace Park, Tongaat, Jayanathan said he was proud to be a South African of Indian descent. Paying tribute to the country’s hard-won battle for democracy, he said: “We need to bring about social cohesion that will not divide fellow South Africans.
“We need to respect and show dignity to each other, with understanding and tolerance. We need to be value-driven and not allow our emotions to take over our lives.”
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune yesterday, DA provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango said Jayanathan was one of the most dedicated councillors it had been his privilege to work with.
“Brian was determined to serve his community, no matter how unwell he might have been at times as he battled the disease that finally claimed his life,” Mncwango said.
“I would urge him to go home, but he stayed put, and not only that, but I kept hearing he was hosting meetings in his ward to address residents’ concerns, over and above his normal workload.
“He was enormously well-liked and friendly to all. And Brian was also the most incredible ambassador for fellow cancer sufferers. He did not believe that cancer was a disability; just a challenge. And his recently published book on his experiences wth the disease, Breaking Barriers, is a valuable addition to literature on the subject.”
Mncwango praised Jayanathan’s activism and said his friendly nature would be missed by all who knew and worked with him.
De Boer, who worked closely with Jayanathan, said: “His loss is very sad. Brian was unfailingly upbeat, and a deeply spiritual man who embraced all religions.
“He was a real icon in Tongaat and he is going to leave a great vacuum.”
Jayanathan leaves his wife, Gonum, daughters Valerie, Shantal and Desiree, and grandchildren Nathan, Darshan and Triven. At the time of going to press his funeral arrangements had not yet been finalised.
Sunday Tribune