Camperdown South African Police Service (SAPS) have registered an inquest into the death of eThekwini Municipality employee Lenny Naicker (59), who died in hospital on Saturday night, having been attacked by a swarm of bees, doused with petrol and accidentally set alight. Naicker, from Chatsworth, who was just months away from retirement, was hospitalised on December 5 and was in ICU for almost a week before he was transferred to a hospital in Camperdown where he died. KZN SAPS spokesperson Captain Ntathu Ndlovu said police were investigating the matter after being alerted by healthcare workers.
Camperdown police have registered an inquest into the death of a 59-year-old man who was admitted to hospital with severe burns on December 10 and later died on December 13. “Police were alerted to the patient’s death by healthcare workers at the local hospital where the deceased was admitted and subsequently died. “The circumstances surrounding and leading up to his death are unclear at this stage,” said Ndlovu.
Naicker’s sister, Tasmia Ismail, who travelled to Pietermaritzburg on Monday to identify her brother’s body, said it had been a difficult and painful time for the family. “A post-mortem had to be conducted because my brother did not die from natural causes, and we had to come to Pietermaritzburg to identify his body,” said Ismail. What began as a routine municipal clean-up in Chatsworth spiralled into a shocking chain of events that left Naicker with 85% burn wounds after he was attacked by bees, doused with petrol and accidentally set alight — followed by hours of delays in receiving critical medical care.
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Naicker, who had served the municipality for 37 years, spent almost a week in ICU in a critical condition. His family has described the incident as a preventable disaster marked by safety lapses and treatment delays.
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