South African expat seeking family of mystery New Zealand man who died at his flat 45 years ago

Hillbrow, Johannesburg in 2014. The family of an unknown New Zealander who died in Hillbrow in the 1970s is being sought by a South African man who witnessed his death. Photo / 123rf

A South African expatriate who witnessed the death of a New Zealand traveller 45 years ago is desperately seeking the man's family.

Brett* said he never learned the name of a large, red-bearded backpacker who died in Hillbrow, Johannesburg in 1976 or 1977.

Now living in Australia, he said he was still traumatised by the unknown man's death and appealed to the Herald to help him find his relatives as a way of finding closure.

"I'm writing to you because, 45 years on, I have an unfinished urgency to find the family of a New Zealand male traveller who I crossed paths with for three or four days only and who tragically, suddenly and confronting, lost his life in my presence," he wrote in a letter.

"I don't know his name. All I remember about him was that he was a big person, a backpacker who had just got to Hillbrow, who needed a bed for a few days, who was friendly, had a bushy ginger beard and enjoyed partying."

Brett said he was 24 at the time and living in a flat called Waldorf Mansions in Hillbrow, a suburb known for its nightlife. He worked for the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM).

One evening, "Red" (as he called him) came home to his flat around midnight after drinking in one of the local pubs.

"He just said that he had had a good evening, and then he went out onto the balcony and sat on the wall of the balcony with his legs over the side. We used to do that during the day to enjoy a bit of the sun. I could see he was having a smoke.

"I didn't think any more of it until I heard an enormous explosive noise. I had never heard such a noise before. I immediately looked up and Red was not there. I rushed to the balcony and leaned over, and saw him lying in a pool of blood seven storeys below me."

He was initially accused by police of pushing Red over the balcony.

"I couldn't believe what they were saying and what they wanted to think. In those days the [South African] police were to be feared.

"After 30 mins of unsupervised and undocumented interrogation I was freed but summonsed to make a statement at the Hillbrow Police Station, I think within the next 24 hours."

Around 2am, Brett went to the Hillbrow Hospital to find his friend and was told he had died.

A few days later, police asked for the man's belongings, including his documents, passports, money and return ticket.

"I never heard anything from his parents or next of kin or any friends," he said. "But it was South Africa and there was no mobile phones or the internet."

He attended the funeral a few weeks later in a Johannesburg cemetery.

"I think I was the only non-official there. I was again distraught that he was laid in a grave without being seen by any of his family or friends."

Now 69, retired, and living in Australia, he said the incident still haunted him. He had scoured search engines for information about the death but was yet to track down any relevant details.

"I will … be burdened until my departure from this earth.

"My express wish is to make contact with any of his family and or his friends in New Zealand and offer my belated condolences, as I am sure they want to know that he did have a friend with him at his time."

*Name has been changed by request.