Families mourn loved ones lost to violence

IOL News

5 days ago

Olysha and Owen Ganas
Image: File
AS SUNDAY approaches, the shadow of tragedy looms large for Vani Ganas. Her world was forever altered one year ago when her children, Olysha and Owen Ganas, tragically lost their lives in a car crash on the M19 near Reservoir Hills.
The crash, allegedly caused by a reckless street racer, has left their family grappling with a sense of loss and injustice - as no one has been held accountable.
Ganas said she and her family felt "let down" by the police.
'None of them have done anything. We do not get feedback anymore. We keep calling but the calls are not answered. They do not respond to emails from us or our attorneys. We were last told that the investigations were ongoing. The investigating officer has changed twice, and none of them have made any headway in the case," Ganas told the POST this week.
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According to the recent findings by the Human Sciences Research Council's (HSRC) South African Social Attitudes Survey, trust in the police had reached an "all-time low".
The findings showed that only 22% of South Africans expressed confidence in the police in 2022, with similarly low levels recorded in 2023 and 2024/25.
For Ganas, these findings resonate deeply.
She too, she said, had "lost faith in the police".
Olysha, 27, a beautician, and her brother, Owen, 25, a plant manager for a construction company, were making a U-turn at a traffic light when the driver of a BMW one series crashed into their Audi A3. Their car exploded into flames. It has been alleged that the BMW driver was a street racer.
Police arrested a suspect on August 2, 2024, but the National Prosecuting Authority said the matter was not placed on the court roll due to 'insufficient evidence'.
'The circumstances surrounding the accident were clear. It is shocking that nobody can do anything about it and nobody is held accountable. Forensic tests were done three times to identify my children's remains. We did it privately at our own cost, so the test results could be given to us quicker. Their funerals were conducted two weeks after the incident and they had closed caskets," she said.
"Sunday will be one year since my children passed away. We have heard that the person responsible is still racing and doing reckless things. We still hope the driver will be held accountable for their deaths."
Ganas said since the incident, she and her husband have been prescribed medication for depression and anxiety, and that Owen's five-year-old son was seeing a child psychologist.
Brothers Seelan Pillay (deceased), Vasu Pillay, Brandon Pillay, and Terrance Subramoney (deceased).
Image: Supplied
Diminished faith
Following the deaths of his two brothers in drive-by shootings and a third stabbed to death in Chatsworth, Brandon Pillay said no arrests or updates had also diminished his faith in the police.
On October 8, 2022, private investigator Seelan Pillay, 49, a former police officer who was the Bayview Community Policing Forum (BCPF) chairperson at the time, was shot outside a fast food outlet on Lenny Naidu Drive in Bayview.
He was handing money to a car guard when an SUV drove up to his vehicle and two suspects fired several shots at him and fled. He died at the scene.
Terrance 'Spoons' Subramoney, 48, faced the same fate when gunmen opened fire on him while he was at the intersection of Havenside Drive and Lenny Naidu Drive in on December 3, 2023.
About 16 gunshots were fired. The father of four died at the scene, which was less than a kilometer away from the spot where Seelan was killed.
Years earlier, his brother, Trevor, was stabbed in the neck. The incident happened on February 22, 1999, when Trevor was only 21.
Trevor Subramoney
Image: Supplied
Pillay, a former Member of Parliament and community activist, said: 'In a space of 13 months, I lost two of my older brothers. They were killed in broad daylight. To this day, nothing has been done and nobody has been arrested. We have lost faith in the police to a large extent.'
He said Trevor was alive and bleeding profusely when he saw him, and he had told him who had stabbed him.
'The suspect was caught and spent three-and-a-half years awaiting trial. He went to trial but was acquitted of all charges because the witness's statements became inadmissible as they were highly intoxicated. The justice system let us down,' said Pillay.
'After Seelan's death, we struggled as a family. We struggled to sleep. I was a walking zombie. It destroyed us. I was angry, upset and disappointed and I still am. Seelan gave his entire life to law enforcement. He served the SAPS as a detective for many years, and went on to serve the BCPF.
'He protected the community and still his death became a statistic. We were not over his death or coping with it when the same thing happened to Terrance.
'Despite all the camera footage and evidence, the police have still not moved even an inch with the case.
'As a family we want nothing more than successful arrests. Although this will not bring back our loved ones, we will find solace knowing that the people responsible have been brought to book,' he said.
THE POST