Durban: Joenel Raja could hear gunshots as she showered at her home in Mariannhill. But she did not expect that her partner of seven years would be the one in front of those bullets.
On Friday morning, Raja and Kevin Naidoo, 44, had breakfast and they planned to spend the day together.
“He always wanted to scuba dive, so that morning he insisted I book a lesson, which I did. I then went into the shower. He normally waits until I am out so he can shower next. But, for some reason, he went to his car wash business which is about a minute’s drive away from our home.
“While showering, I heard gunshots. I wrapped a towel around me and ran to lock the gate and the front door. I began shouting for Kevin but I could not find him in the house. Then I realised his car was gone.”
Raja said she tried to phone him, but his nephew answered the call.
“He said Kevin was at the car wash and that he was shot. When I arrived at the business, he was on the ground. He was already dead. I was unable to comfort him in his last moments,” said Raja, a nurse.
She said she was not certain what happened but she believed the shooting was a hit.
“I found out that two men went to the car wash and asked for Kevin. When they located him, they started shooting at him. Kevin tried to run away but he slipped and fell. That’s when they shot him in the back. I don’t know why he was targeted. What could he have done to make someone want him dead so badly?”
Raja said Naidoo owned several businesses, including selling sand and stone, buying and selling cars, and a tow truck business.
“He still wanted to expand his businesses by building a tow truck and he wanted to travel overseas. Now it’s all just a dream. We can’t fulfill it together.”
She said days before his death, Naidoo took her shopping.
“Out of the blue, he said we were going shopping and he bought me clothing and appliances, including an air fryer. I did not understand why he was doing it but in the end, he said if anything happened to him he would have peace of mind knowing he did everything to make me happy. Kevin also sat down with me and gave me a list of people that I needed to call if anything happened to him and if I needed anything.”
Raja said she was lost without her partner of seven years.
“It feels like a nightmare because we were always together. We never left each other’s side unless I needed to go to work. When I went to work, he would stand outside my workplace when entered the hospital and he was there when I was done with my shift. He was the kindest person. I don’t know what I will do without him.”
Quinton Chetty, a childhood friend of Naidoo, said: “He went out of his way for people. The Mariannhill area is not a wealthy area. It’s the area we are from and he knows the hardships he went through, so wherever he could help people, be it financially or by taking them to hospital for check-ups, or whatever it was, he did it. In fact, when I was opening my first church in the area, he had just opened his sand and stone business and he sponsored the blocks for my church to be built.”
Captain Nqobile Gwala, a provincial police spokesperson, said a case of murder was under investigation.
“It is alleged on July 2 at 12.30pm, a 44-year-old man was at a car wash on Acorn Road when he was shot by two unknown males. He was declared dead at the scene. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated.”
The Post