Three men have been arrested and appeared in court in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee. Philemon Lukhele, an employee of ANC chief whip Mpumalanga legislature office, is one of the three men arrested.
His fellow accused include Sipho Lawrence Mkhatshwa as well as Albert Mduduzi Gama. The three accused have appeared at the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court.
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Philemon who is 47 said that he had known Gardee for a long time. He further went on to send condolences to the Gardee family after which he claimed that he would be cleared of all charges.
The three men have requested for Magistrate Tule – Tu Tonjeni to grant them access to medical attention, as they claim that police officers assaulted them severely during their arrest. The judge later agreed and ordered that they be granted medical attention while in prison.
The ANC chief Fidel Mlombo says that the arrest of an employee from their office in connection with the crime against Gardee is “highly regrettable”.
“As an office and the ANC, we are totally against and distance ourselves from the act of killing of innocent people.
We trust that the laws of this country, that there will be a successful investigation and prosecution of perpetrators, and that those who are found to have committed this heinous crime are put behind bars and removed from the streets for the safety of our society,” said Mlambo.
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Gardee who was 28 years of age, was the daughter of EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee.
Her disappearance was reported two weeks ago. Her body was later found missing with a gunshot wound to the head.
The case has been postponed to the 9th of June and Lukhele 47, Mkhatshwa 39 as well as Mduduzi 52 still remain in custody.
