Sombre send-off set for Gardee
SLAIN Hillary Gardee will be laid to rest tomorrow in Kwamagugu township, Mbombela, Mpumalanga.
Gardee, 28, was abducted on April 29 and her lifeless body, which had a bullet wound in the upper part of it, was found abandoned in a field in Mbombela on Monday.
The death of Gardee has sent shock waves across the country and the continent. She was the daughter of the EFF’s former secretary-general, Godrich Gardee.
On Wednesday, an autopsy revealed Gardee had a bullet wound in her upper body, which left the family and EFF angry and they questioned how police missed it when they combed the crime scene.
Yesterday, EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo, said Gardee’s funeral will be attended not only by South Africans but by people from the continent because her father is a former Umkhonto we Sizwe operative and was in exile and had links all over the continent.
“We want to finalise the funeral of Gardee with dignity. She was a kind, generous and loving soul, her burial must be with dignity,” he said.
Thambo said the discovery of the bullet wound “dented our faith in the police system; that they can miss such a critical thing in the crime scene. That crime scene no longer adds value, because they missed a crucial part of it”.
“We will be waiting for updates from the SAPS. Hopefully they can redeem themselves in finding the killers so that the family can find closure as to why this happened to their daughter,” he said.
Thambo further said: “Police must do their job, that is what we expect from them. We get updates from the police. We do not have any conclusive evidence to add on speculations whether the killers are known to the family or not.”
Early in the week, police in Mpumalanga initially reported that Gardee was discovered murdered with bruises on her body.
“However after further investigation by our forensic team, it was revealed that she was shot on her upper body. The police then conveyed such a message to the family, which does not prohibit them to communicate how their child was murdered to other family members and friends,” said Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli.
He said a team comprising different disciplines within the police, had been assembled by the provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, to investigate the matter. Police said anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the murder should contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
Thambo urged citizens to respect the funeral proceedings and not flood the funeral, and said people can watch virtually. Yesterday, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola visited the Gardee family to pay his respects to them.