Man robbed, killed on N2
MINUTES after a man told his two young children that “daddy is coming home just now”, he was robbed and killed.
Mathew Naidoo, 29, was stabbed while waiting for his lift club to fetch him from under the bridge on the N2 freeway near umhlanga on Tuesday evening.
Naidoo, a call centre agent from Orient Hills in Isipingo, had spoken on the phone to his common-law wife, Rabia Ally, when he reached the spot where he waited for his transport.
“I called to check if he was waiting and if he was okay. He could hear our 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, and 12-month-old son, Mathew, in the background, and he asked me to give them the phone. He told them both daddy is coming home just now.
“Isabella has been asking for her dad. We had such a good time camping last weekend and now he is no longer with us. He worked hard and made sacrifices for us. He made sure we were comfortable and always had food at home,” said Ally.
She said it was only recently that he started travelling with someone else, and in the last two weeks he waited under the bridge on the N2 as it was easier to be fetched.
“He did say to a neighbour that it was dangerous where he waited,” said Ally.
She said when Naidoo did not arrive home she tried calling him but calls were not answered.
“I thought his battery died. I then tried the person he travelled with. When I eventually found out what happened I was in shock. All I want now is for Mathew to rest in peace. My concern now is my children. Whether the perpetrators are caught or not makes no difference as it will not bring Mathew back,” said Ally.
She described him as someone who always smiles.
“He was liked by everyone. He was a bubbly person,” she said.
Naidoo’s mother, Dolly Chetty, 68, said she had lost her only son.
“He was always so respectable. I don’t know how I will be able to live without my son,” said Chetty.
Naidoo’s cousin, Deepak Singh, said he was stabbed just for his cellphone.
“His bag was still with him. Mathew was not a violent person. Unfortunately he had no option but to wait there for his transport,” said Singh.
Colonel Robert Netshiunda, police spokesperson, said Durban North police were investigating a case of murder and robbery.
“The deceased was reportedly waiting for his transport along the pedestrian bridge when he was allegedly robbed of his cellphone and stabbed.”