Rondebosch police have opened an inquest docket after the discovery of a badly decomposed body near Rhodes Memorial on Devil's Peak.

Police and Mountain Search and Rescue Services recovered the naked body of a man at the Mowbray Ridge area on Sunday morning after hikers spotted it and alerted the police.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones said the identity of the body was still unknown.

He said the hikers made the gruesome discovery on Saturday evening.

"The circumstances and cause of the person's death are still unknown. An inquest case docket was opened by the Rondebosch police."

A postmortem would be conducted at Salt River police mortuary.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of Cape Argus on October 17, 2005