MPUMALANGA: A member of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO)who was employed by the Mpulamalanga Provincial Legislature has been arrested in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee, the daughter of Economic Freedom Fighters(EFF) Head of International Relations Godrich Gardee.
Reached for comments, Wandile Dludlu, the PUDEMO Secretary General confirmed that the arrested suspect was their member who went to exile in South Africa amid persecution by the regime.
“We can confirm that he is our member who went to exile in South Africa some years ago. He joined the movement as a SWAYOCO member before joining PUDEMO”, said the Secretary General.
The name of the suspect cannot be revealed for now pending his court appearance.
On Saturday, Fidel Mlombo, the ANC Provincial Chief Whip, released a statement after numerous calls from the media seeking confirmation about the arrest of suspect.
“The Office of the Chief Whip in Mpumalanga Province has been inundated with the media calls regarding alleged questioning of an employee located in the Office of the Chief Whip in respect of the gruesome killing of Hillary Gardee. The Chief Whips Office is not privy to the details of the investigation by our state law agencies on this matter. However, we fully support the police investigation that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of this brutal killing of Hillary,” reads the statement in part.
Efforts to reach the Mpumalanga Police Spokesperson proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
On another note, EFF leader Julius Malema urged the Minister of Police Bheki Cele to participate in a demonstration to ensure that the suspect is denied bail.The EFF leader said the police must deal with the matter regardless of the political affiliation of the suspect.
Hillary Gardee.