Written by 
Dhananjaya Naidoo failed to return from a hike on Saturday evening. (Supplied by family)
- The body of a Cape Town hiker was found on Wednesday, after he went missing on Sunday.
- Dhananjaya Naidoo’s family said he had a heart attack while hiking on Saturday.
- He was located after a four day search.
A retired Cape Town teacher, who went missing while hiking in Newlands Forest over the weekend, has been found.
Dhananjaya Naidoo’s body was discovered during a search on Wednesday, his family said.
News24 previously reported that police had launched a search for the 66-year-old after he failed to return on Saturday evening.
Naidoo was last seen starting his much-loved weekly hike in Newlands Forest.
He had intended visiting a friend afterward, but according to his daughter Siveshni, he never made it to his friend’s house.
She confirmed that her father’s body had been discovered just below the contour path during a search operation on Wednesday.
In a statement on behalf of Naidoo’s family, his daughters said that a medical report had indicated that he died after a heart attack, which “took place over a short three-minute period”.
“He was found in a good condition with a slight smile on his face. It is likely that he knelt down to rest and slowly touched the ground around 17:00 on Saturday. There was no bodily harm,” the statement said.
“We are at peace knowing that he left this world doing what he loved – walking the mountain. The place he was found was a beautiful look out point by a tree, just 10 metres off the main contour path in Newlands Forest.”
Western Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed that Naidoo’s body had been found.
“The body of the missing person was found on Wednesday on the contour path in Newlands Forest. An inquest was registered for further investigation,” he said.
“A post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.”
‘We express immense respect and gratitude’
Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) spokesperson David Nel said their teams had assisted the police in a carefully co-ordinated search for Naidoo.
“Numerous team members have been closely involved since Sunday morning. Despite the search being briefly suspended on Tuesday, due to a fire in the area, planning continued and a carefully focused search yesterday lead teams to an area where his body was found on Wednesday afternoon,” he said.
His daughters thanked all those who had been involved in the search efforts.
“We express immense respect and gratitude to all the people that volunteered to bring our Dad home. In no particular order, we would like to thank our family, friends, our father’s colleagues from the teaching/education fraternity, members of WSAR, SAPs and all members of the public that volunteered,” they said.
Naidoo retired from the Western Cape education department two years ago, but still worked as a mentor for principals.
He started his career as a mathematics teacher in Durban and later took up a post at Rylands High School in Cape Town.
He was the principal of Sophumelela Secondary School, before becoming a circuit manager for the department.