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Hillary Gardee murder case: Two more suspects arrested
All three suspects in the Hillary Gardee murder will appear in court on Monday, where the EFF will be present.
Photo: Justin
Two more suspects have been arrested in the Hillary Gardee murder case. According to reports, the suspects will appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 9 May 2022.
According to City Press, both suspects are well connected. One works in the Mpumalanga provincial legislature, while the other is reportedly the adopted son of an eminent politician.
The men cannot be named until they appear in court.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomed these arrests in a statement where they also promised to give the police the space needed to do their jobs.
The Gardee family and the EFF will also be present at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday when the suspects are due to appear.
The EFF stated that the party is of the view that the suspects must be denied bail due to the fact that the first suspect was arrested as he was attempting to flee and can, therefore, be deemed a flight risk.
The Gardee family will not know peace until justice is served
Although the family of Hillary Gardee is thankful for the support they have received since news of their daughter’s passing, the family says they will not know peace until justice is served.
In a statement issued over the weekend, the family took time to thank all the different groups of society who have shown them support since the news first broke that Hilary had gone missing.
It was later reported that her body was found and her family has been flooded with messages of support from friends, other family members and the public at large.
ALSO READ: Police defend investigation of Hillary Gardee’s murder after criticism by EFF
“The family will now allow the legal system to conduct its work, as Hillary, the Gardee family and the people of South Africa will not know peace until justice is served for Hillary,” read part of the statement.
The Gardee family also expressed their hope that this case would be handled in a manner that would communicate to perpetrators just how seriously the country’s justice system takes issues of femicide and gender-based violence.
‘Thank you’
Among the people the family thanked were the people of Mpumalanga, South Africa at large, the South African Police Service (Saps) and the EFF.
“The burden and weight of our grief was eased by the outpouring of love from our people, both prominent and ordinary, and that amount of comfort we have received from both the care and compassion immeasurable.”
“It is our collective wish that we could respond to all the messages of support and condolences on all media platforms, however, during this period of mourning, this has not been possible,” added the family.
The family also expressed their wish, going forward, for the police service to show the same commitment, diligence and speedy response to other cases as they have to that of Hillary’s murder.
Hillary Gardee’s friends and family gathered at Church On The Hill in Kamagugu, Nelspruit, on Saturday to lay her to rest.
RELATED: Hillary Gardee laid to rest
Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela announced on Saturday morning that a breakthrough had been made on Friday by the police in connection with Gardee’s murder.
“Up to so far, we managed to arrest one male suspect at Schoemansdal in Nkomazi within the 72-hours that we were given. We believe that we have the right suspect and we are looking forward to [making] more arrests as the investigation continues,” said Lieutenant Manamela in a statement.
Hillary was the daughter of former EFF secretary-general and attorney, Godrich Gardee.
Hillary’s body was found in the Ehlanzeni District in the Sabie area just outside Mbombela, four days after she was reported missing.
The 28-year-old was last seen on Friday at Spar Supermarket in Mbombela wearing a black top and black trousers.
She was with her adopted three-year-old daughter when she was abducted. The child was found unharmed.
