Hillary Gardee’s funeral to be held this weekend in KaMagugu

Hillary Gardee will be laid to rest at the Church on the Hill in KaMagugu this Saturday, May 7.

The Gardee family’s spokesperson and member of the EFF, Sinawo Tambo, addressed the media outside the Gardee home in West Acres this morning, May 5.

Hillary Gardee, the daughter of former EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee, went missing in the late afternoon of Friday April 29.

She was last seen at The Plaza in the Mbombela CD at about 17:40 with her three-year-old adopted daughter.

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The daughter was found wandering Umnenke Street in KaMagugu at 20:30 the evening her mother went missing, and told family members that “mummy is fighting!”.

It was the toddler’s statement that alerted the family that Hillary was in trouble.

Hillary was reported missing by her family at the Nelspruit Police Station on Saturday April 30, however, in a tragic turn of events, her body was found with a gunshot wound in the head in the early hours of Tuesday May 3 off a dirt road in some bushes 150 metres from the Sabie/Lydenburg road when some people walking to work spotted her corpse.

The police’s forensic team rushed to the scene that morning. The area was only cordoned off at about 15:30 that day.

Tambo said it was concerning that the police on the scene had not spotted that she had been shot and that the family had to hear that discovery from the forensic team itself.

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“The discovery of the bullet was long overdue. It has dented our faith in the police system, that they could miss such a critical thing at a crime scene,” said Tambo. “Her crime scene no longer adds value, because they missed a crucial part of it.”

He said the family is awaiting updates from the police and hopes the force can redeem itself and find the killers so that they can find closure of what had happened to their daughter.

Tambo said the family is working with the authorities, but also has its own internal mechanisms to speed up the process. “These will also act to ensure the police are held accountable for any mishap or mistake.”

He said the family would provide updates as soon as they are advised to do so and will keep the public informed.

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Meanwhile, a statement by a provincial police spokesperson, Col Donald Mdhluli, was sent late on Wednesday evening, May 4, regarding the bullet wound. He said further investigation by the forensic team revealed Hillary had been shot in her upper body.

“The police then conveyed such message to the family, which does not prohibit them to communicate how their child was murdered to other family members and friends,” he said.

“A team comprising of different disciplines within the police has been assembled by the provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen Semakaleng Manamela, to investigate this matter.

“The investigation into the circumstances of how Hillary was murdered is under way with a view to arrest whosoever is involved. The Mpumalanga police are at no stage going to reveal the stages of the investigation to the public, but only to the relevant family,” he said.

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“It is against this backdrop that the police request the space to investigate this gruesome murder without any disturbances.”

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the person or people responsible for Hillary’s murder, should contact the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.