Manna Naidoo
South African politician (1948–2022)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sagadava "Manna" Naidoo (4 December 1948 – 25 May 2022) was a South African politician. He represented the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the National Assembly from February to November 2000 and was also a former mayor of Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal.
Manna Naidoo | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 1 February 2000 – 2 November 2000 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sagadava Naidoo 4 December 1948 |
| Died | 25 May 2022 (aged 73) |
| Citizenship | South Africa |
| Party | United Democratic Movement |
Political career
Born on 4 December 1948,[1] Naidoo entered politics around 1998.[2] He stood for the UDM as a candidate in the general election the following year,[1] but he was not immediately elected. Instead, he joined the National Assembly on 1 February 2000, filling the casual vacancy in the UDM caucus that arose after Roelf Meyer resigned.[3] He served less than a year in the seat, resigning on 2 November 2000.[3] He later served as mayor of Verulam.[4][5]
Personal life and death
Naidoo and his brother, businessman Sivaraj Naidoo, inherited several properties and businesses in KwaZulu-Natal.[2] Naidoo unsuccessfully sued his brother in 2014, seeking a share in his brother's transport business and in one of the inherited properties, a piece of farmland worth about R450 million.[2][4]
Naidoo went missing from his farm in KwaZulu-Natal on 25 May 2022. His body was discovered on a sugar cane plantation in Canelands, north of Durban, the following day. He had been tied up and shot several times in a suspected farm invasion; his Toyota Hilux and several firearms had been stolen from his home.[5] Three suspects were arrested in September and charged with murder, kidnapping, and robbery.[6] Naidoo's children subsequently entered into a legal battle with each other over the inheritance of one of Naidoo's properties in Verulam.[7]