Gardee case sees 2 more nabbed
MBOMBELA - A fourth and fifth suspect have been arrested in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee.
A Nigerian national has been charged with defeating the ends of justice by the Mpumalanga police after he was brought in for questioning on Sunday August 14.
A provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, said the man, who is in his mid-30s, was linked through the cellphone and laptop of the deceased and was expected to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Wednesday August 17.
The outcome of the court appearance was not yet known at the time of going to press on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrest of the Nigerian national on Sunday followed the arrest of a fourth suspect in the murder case.
Rasie Nkuna was arrested last Thursday in KwaThema near Springs.
He made a brief appearance in the Delmas Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.
He abandoned his bail application and his matter was postponed to August 22 for further investigation.
Gardee, the daughter of struggle hero and former EFF secretary general, Godrich Gardee, was kidnapped along with her three-year-old adopted daughter in Mbombela on April 29. Her daughter was found abandoned in KaMagugu. Hillary’s body was found next to the Sabie/ Lydenburg Road on May 2.
Following some intensive investigations, the police arrested three suspects,
Philemon Lukhele, Albert Gama and Sipho Mkhatshwa.
The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela, said the fourth accused, Nkuna, was a possible serial killer who had been linked to the murders of three other women.
“We arrested the fourth suspect in the Hillary Gardee case on Thursday. We have been looking for him ever since the three suspects were arrested. The very same suspect is the one we have been looking for concerning a murder that happened last Saturday, as well. He is also linked with another two murders. So we were looking for a serial killer,” said Manamela.
On Tuesday, the 36-year-old murder accused appeared in the KaNyamazane Magistrate’s Court facing murder charges following the killing of a police officer, Sergeant Marcia Mazibuko, who was stationed at Ngodwana SAPS, and her sister, Pretty Mazibuko. The two sisters were allegedly shot and killed by Nkuna in KaNyamazane during the night of June 15.
The EFF commended the law enforcement agencies that tracked and apprehended the fourth suspect and called on the police to treat all matters of gender-based violence with the same urgency.
The party said the arrest would help bring peace to the Gardee family, and was a testament that Hillary’s spirit was fighting to ensure that those who had taken her life, pay.