UKZN lecturer dies in Ballito Junction parking lot

The body of a University of KwaZulu-Natal lecturer was found in his car in the Ballito Junction parking lot last week.

Anand Naidoo passed away in his car of natural causes on the evening of October 23, where his body remained until the early hours of the following morning.

Also read: Woman’s throat cut by ex in Ballito Junction

While his death may well have been unavoidable, Naidoo’s family want answers as to why it took so long to find him.

“Our son was a lecturer at the Howard College campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and did not arrive home by 5pm,” said his mother, Muniamma, who lives in Tongaat.

When he did not arrive, the Naidoos contacted Tracker but were unable to get a location for his vehicle.

Fearing the worst, the family went to the police to report their son missing, explaining that he could have gone into a coma because he is diabetic and hypertensive.

Muniamma said the tracking unit on his vehicle had been activated just before 10pm.

Thereafter they received five messages, one every hour until just before 3am, stating the vehicle had not been recovered.

At 5am the next day, the Naidoos received a call from police stating they had found Anand’s body in his car at the Ballito Junction. “It appears that security only checked the car at about 4am and informed the police.”

Paramedics concluded Naidoo had died from a heart attack.

“We have unanswered questions that are keeping us from getting closure on this matter. Two of them are: why Tracker failed to locate a car that was in the parking lot from about 3pm the previous day and why security did not check the vehicle when all the other cars had left?”

Ballito Junction CEO Geraldine Jorgensen said security guards had approached his car at midnight to check on him. He told them he was resting. Jorgensen said it was not uncommon for people eating at one of the restaurants in the mall to rest for a while in their vehicles afterwards.

Tracker communications manager, Nandi Canning said they had thoroughly investigated why the car could not be located.

“We have established that the radio network coverage in that area is limited,” she said.

“As a result, we suspect that the vehicle was parked in a location where the tracking device was not able to hear the network and was therefore unable to respond to the activation commands sent to the device by our system.

“Radio Frequency (RF) technology operates in a similar way to cell phone technology where spots with limited coverage exist. During our investigation it was also established that the unit is fully functional/operational.”

All this means little to the family though, who are left only with the memory of their son and questions about his last hours.

>>  Ready to say ‘I Do’ on the Dolphin Coast? Meet the team ready to advise, help and deliver on your big day.

>>  Visit our Education feature for a collection of all the best schools, tutoring systems, and even some colleges and training facilities on the North Coast.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram