When Selvan Naidoo went to ask a man, whose vehicle was blocking the driveway, to move it, his simple request turned into a nightmare when he had acid thrown over him.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Life Chatsmed Gardens, Naidoo described how the horror attack had unfolded.
On Monday afternoon, Naidoo went to visit his friend Rico Pillay, who lives in a granny cottage on a Mariannhill property.
When Naidoo wanted to leave at about 8.30pm he found his vehicle hemmed in by a car belonging to the brother of Pillay's landlord.
Naidoo said he and Pillay stood in the grounds and called up to the alleged culprit on the second floor, asking him to move his car.
When he did not respond, Naidoo went upstairs and knocked on the door of his room.
Rather than a polite exchange, however, he said he came under an attack which will leave him scarred for life.
"He opened the door and started flinging this stuff at me," said Naidoo.
To his shock, he felt his body begin to burn with increasing ferocity.
"I realised he had probably thrown acid over me," Naidoo recalled.
To escape "this madman", as he referred to the alleged perpetrator, Naidoo said he leapt over the balcony. Although he did not break any limbs in the fall, all he can recall was Pillay rushing to his aid, then regaining consciousness in an ICU hospital bed.
A heavily bandaged Naidoo said his left side had taken the brunt of the attack, but his face and upper torso had black flecks all over. His thigh and foot were also burnt.
He was worried he might lose the sight in his left eye, which was swollen and weeping.
Naidoo said different drops were being administered at one-, two- and four-hourly intervals, but the vision in his left eye was very blurred, while he was still in intense pain throughout his body.
"I never provoked him, simply asked him to remove his van. If you are angry with someone, you give them a punch, but only a madman throws acid," Naidoo said.
Pillay, who has lived on the property for about two years, said the alleged perpetrator lived the life of "a hermit", and did not welcome anybody, even in the yard.
"He has no visitors, no TV, no radio, and lives in the dark.
"I heard Selvan scream, and saw him fall from the balcony," said Pillay.
Rushing across to help, he felt something splashing him and thought maybe boiling water had been thrown over him because it burnt him.
Later he realised it was probably the remains of the acid.
"Selvan was groaning and moaning, and I threw some water over him and me. I managed to get him back to the bathroom and flushed him well with water. He looked like boiled meat," he said.
Fortunately the alleged attacker apparently then drove off, because the driveway was clear and Pillay was able to take his friend to hospital.
On hearing of the attack on her brother, Veronica Jayanandham rushed to Durban from Johannesburg to be with him.
She said they had opened a case of attempted murder.
"It is positively inhuman. You do not just have acid available to throw at someone. You don't even treat an animal like that," said Jayanandham.
The police confirmed a docket had been opened, but said the matter was still under investigation.