The family of the young man found murdered in Pelican Park said he was self-determined and well on his way to living more independently before his life was cut short.
Cameron Naidoo, 23, who was diagnosed with autism, was last seen alive near his home in Dove Road and was reported missing from his family home on Thursday February 29.
His mother, Tamla, said Cameron had been accustomed to spending time at the neighbours and a friend so she wasn’t too concerned when he was not home when she got home at about 7pm.
At 9pm she became worried and tried messaging and calling his phone but it was off, which was strange because his phone was never off, she said. She then went around to his where he usually visits not too far away from their home but Cameron was nowhere to be found.
“That’s when I became extremely worried because the last time one of his friends spoke to him on the phone was at about 5.30pm. I then contacted the police to report him missing and we searched and asked around in the community and even went to the house of a man who was last with Cameron,” said Ms Naidoo.
The following morning the Naidoo family began the search again, did their own investigations and discovered and confirmed, through camera footage from neighbours, that Cameron had last been seen with the man from the neighbourhood – the man was also identified as the person on the call with Cameron just before he went missing.
The two men were seen on footage going in the direction of the bushes and the community went searching for Cameron on Saturday March 2. A few minutes later Cameron’s body was found by family and residents, with his hands and feet tied up, riddled with stab wounds. His cellphone was missing from the scene.
The heartbroken mother said Cameron was due to start an internship next week and was excited because he had plans to buy a motorcycle and eventually a car in order to become more independent.
“He was a special needs person but he was high functioning so he enjoyed doing things on his own and had ambitions and goals to become more independent. He was well known in the community and would greet everyone and he was well loved by everyone in the neighbourhood – I only truly got to see the love people had for him when he went missing and when the whole community rallied together to find him.”
A man from the community was arrested over the weekend and appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday March 4 on charges of robbery and murder in Cameron’s case.
Ms Naidoo, who was at court on Monday, said she couldn’t face her son’s alleged killer and still couldn’t understand why he was so brutally killed.
