- A Gardee family spokesperson says Hillary Gardee was shot execution-style.
- The EFF visited the family home on Wednesday following the discovery of her body near Mbombela.
- The family is also concerned about the handling of the crime scene.
Hillary Gardee’s family says she was shot execution-style and allegedly forced to withdraw R1 300 before she was killed.
Gardee family spokesperson and EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo spoke to journalists after the EFF visited the home of the former secretary-general Godrich Gardee on Wednesday.
He said there might be a deeper motive for her killing.
“There was confirmation this morning that there were transactions made by Hillary at the time she was abducted. With the revelation that there was a bullet found in her head, this might be a deviation that this was a common criminal act.”
Thambo added that the family was looking at all possible scenarios.
READ | Cele visits scene where Hillary Gardee’s body was found, meets with her family
“One cannot shoot someone in the head for R1 300, the risk is too high. It doesn’t inspire us to believe that this was a common criminal act. If you can afford a gun and ammunition, you don’t need that much money to conduct a crime. We are a family that is not stupid.”
The family is also concerned about the handling of the crime scene by the police.
“If the police can’t do a basic job of examining a crime scene thoroughly before taking the body… The level of [alleged] incompetence could jeopardise the case,” Thambo said.
He said that, during the post-mortem, a bullet had been found in the back of Hillary’s head.
On Tuesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said they did not yet know the motive behind the murder, but were committed to finding those responsible, within 72 hours.
News24 reported that Hillary went missing on Friday 29 April. She was last seen at the Mbombela Plaza Super Spar in the central business district around 17:30.
Her body was discovered on Tuesday at an isolated site in a timber plantation about 40km outside Mbombela.
Police have not yet responded to a request for comment on the latest claims by the family. Their comment will be added once received.
