Hillary Gardee murder: Mpumalanga ANC chief whip says arrest of employee ‘regrettable’

It has been confirmed that an employee in the Mpumalanga ANC chief whip’s office has been arrested in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee.

The three suspects arrested in connection with Gardee’s murder were expected to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning.

According to News24, ANC’s Mpumalanga legislature chief whip, Fidel Mlombo, said the arrest of his office’s employee is “highly regrettable”.

“As an office and the ANC, we are totally against and distance ourselves from the act of killing innocent people,” said Mlombo.

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“The Office of the Chief Whip in Mpumalanga province notes with serious concern the arrest of an employee in this office who turns out to be a suspect in the gruesome killing of Ms Hillary Gardee. This Office stands for the protection of women, young girls and boys and condemns in the strongest terms any acts of violence perpetrated against the vulnerable especially women and children and any acts of GBV+F,” reads a statement from the Chief Whip’s office.

Well connected suspects

According to weekend media reports, the suspects arrested for Gardee’s murder are reportedly well connected.

An Eswatini-born civil servant-cum-politician and the adopted son of an eminent politician are reportedly among the three suspects nabbed, City Press reported.

Mpumalanga police said more suspects were expected to be arrested as the investigation continued.

Funeral

Gardee was laid to rest on Saturday.

Hillary’s father, former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, said during the funeral that the silence of other victims of crime was to blame for the death of his daughter Hillary.

He also took a swipe at the “incompetence” of the police in South Africa.

“More than 100 people [in the area] have been kidnapped and released or left to release themselves. Their silence and the silence of their close friends killed you,” Gardee said.

“Those 100 [people] failed to report or follow up on this crime of abduction to use the captive’s ATM cards and pin codes.

“Their silence and the silence of the community, [as well as] the incompetence of the police with active dockets of 100 similar incidents killed you my dear.”