In 2019, 35-year-old Durbanite Nicholas Molver cheated death when he survived a motorcycle accident and proved doctors wrong when he began walking again.
The next three years would see Nicholas, his wife Matri, 34, and their family embroiled in a court battle against the driver of the vehicle who allegedly skipped an intersection and crashed into Nicholas’s motorcycle.
But neither Nicholas, nor Matri, would live to see the outcome of the case.
The couple were found unresponsive in their bedroom at their apartment in the upmarket suburb of Musgrave in Durban on Wednesday — victims of suspected poisoning due to the alleged wrong use of pesticides when their neighbour was having her flat fumigated for termites a week before.
Nicholas, a communications officer for BioWatch, and Matri, a graphic designer at Mr Price, were discovered by Nicholas’s brother, Luke, after they did not leave for work or answer their calls on Wednesday morning.
“I discovered their bodies. Myself, Nicholas and our third brother Matthew (and his wife) all live in the same building. Nicholas and Matri were unresponsive to phone calls and had not left for work. I have keys to their flat, so I entered. I walked into their bedroom and they were lying there, together. I knew immediately something was terribly, terribly wrong. And no moment before or after in my life, however long I live, will be as horrifying and traumatic as that instant of soul-collapsing realisation.”
Luke said the apartment had been in his family for decades and the pair had been living there since 2015 and were married in 2017.
“Now they are gone, but their light remains inside us; as warmth, as comfort, as the compassion and kindness of their all-too-brief lives. We are all better people because of Nicholas and Matri, and to have them taken away so senselessly, is unfathomable.”
He said a strong chemical smell lingered in their apartment.
The smell still lingered on the steps at the entrance of the building when TimesLIVE Premium visited on Friday.
Tenants of Observatory Court expressed their concerns about the alleged fumigation malpractice.
A visibly shaken resident said they were in the dark as to what had led to the Molvers’ deaths. “We all do not know and there are so many stories flying around.”
Another tenant described the couple as being an integral part of their close-knit community.
“They were quite positive. They always helped people. It’s kind of like our little community is missing a key factor now.”
Luke said he last saw his brother on Tuesday evening.
“I saw Nicholas the evening before. Matri was a consummate baker, and Nick would often pop down to my apartment with a tub of cookies or scones or something delicious. He did that on the final night of his life. Feeding his family with a smile and a joke.”
The incident has sparked outrage, as pest control industry giants say they have been calling on the department of agriculture for years to strictly regulate who is allowed to purchase and handle such chemicals.
Pictures and videos supplied to TimesLIVE Premium from inside the neighbouring apartment show small mounds of white powder strewn across the wooden floorboards and bathroom tiles. Industry insiders have described the use of highly toxic phosphine-based tablets as “overkill”.
While the post mortem results are expected on Tuesday, sources close to the investigation and industry experts with knowledge of the case believe the Molvers were poisoned by phosphine gas fumes released over the course of several days from the apartment next door.
Spokesperson for the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment, Albi Modise, said aluminium phosphine gas is a fumigant insecticide for control of pests in stored grain, seeds, tobacco and storage premises and can also be used for control of rodents.
Owner of Trust Pest Solutions and member of the Pest Control Federation of SA (PCFSA), Yugan Naidoo, said fumigant tablets, such as the ones used in the apartment, are extremely hazardous.
“Fumigant tablets release toxic gas into the atmosphere over a period ranging from several hours to several days — in a confined space it can be fatal. These hazardous chemicals should be supplied to distributors who can then supply them to registered operators and monitor what is being sold to whom for the purposes of control and accountability.”
Aluminium phosphine is regulated and enforced by the two authorities.
The department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, in terms of the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act, 1947 (Act No. 36 of 1947), regulates the registration, manufacturing, distribution, sales, use and advertisement of pesticides in terms of the act, and the operation of the pest controllers.
The department of health, in terms of the Hazardous Substances Act, 1973 (Act No.15 of 1973), governs all substances that may be classified or categorised as hazardous to human health or the environment.
Modise said the Hazardous Substances Act is enforced at national, provincial and local levels of government.
“Most of the powers of the act are delegated down to local government level, meaning municipal health inspectors registered with the Health Professional Council of SA are responsible for enforcement of the act and its regulations.”
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: “Permission does not have to be given by the municipality to fumigate any private premises. However, it is incumbent upon the owner of the property or body corporate to ensure the company engaged to do the fumigation is compliant with the appropriate registration in terms of Act 36 on 1947. Further to this, the company must comply with the municipality’s schedule trade bylaws in terms of registration.”
While an inquest docket remains open for investigation by Berea SAPS, the Molver family are preparing a case.
“More than any kind of monetary compensation, we want justice. For my sister and my brother and to stop this kind of tragedy happening to any other family. My brother has been awaiting justice for three years after his accident, and not only was he robbed of that, but he was robbed of his life. My family wants consequences for those responsible. Those negligent and careless and reckless, those who are the complete opposite of what Nicholas and Matri stood for.”
An investigation by TimesLIVE Premium found that the company involved was not registered with the department of agriculture, and therefore was not authorised to carry out any fumigation or pest control work.
The owner of the fumigated apartment, who asked not to be named, confirmed she had hired a company, whose name is known to TimesLIVE Premium, to fumigate her vacant apartment the week before.
She said she found the company on a business group on WhatsApp and that it had been professional in its communication.
An invoice for R10,592 for the work done, which TimesLIVE Premium has seen, was submitted to the owner on Monday.
The invoice states the work done was for the treatment of termites and emphasises: “Gas toxins to be used throughout the flat, this product is extremely effective and highly dangerous.”
Hilda Swart, CEO of the South African Pest Control Association (Sapca), said people needed to ensure that those carrying out specialised work of fumigation and pest control were registered with the relevant monitoring bodies.
“People need to ask the company to produce their certificates to see whether they are registered with industry regulators such as Sapca. Unfortunately in this day and age people can buy their licences to carry out pest control, that’s why it is vital that they must be asked to produce their accreditation with industry regulators.”
— Additional reporting Mfundo Mkhize
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.