On May 7 last year, four days after police minister Bheki Cele implemented a 72-hour action plan to find Hillary Gardee’s killers, South Africa cheered as three men were arrested.
Such a speedy development in a criminal investigation is unusual in this country, where victims of crime, or their families, can wait years for justice, if they get it at all.
But Cele’s tough talk and bold commitment seemed to galvanise police. Additional resources were brought in and investigators put their noses to the ground. It was an inspiring example of what could be achieved when police have the support and resources they need.
And the good news kept coming. A fourth suspect was arrested in August and, while the motive for the murder was unclear, law enforcement appeared to have leads that were paying off.
Hillary, 28, the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee was brutally murdered after going missing on April 29. Her body was found in a timber plantation outside Mbombela on May 3 with stab wounds and boot imprints on her chest. She had also been shot in the back of the head.
While the word 'temporarily' may provide some hope that it’s not all over, cases are rarely put back on the roll once they have been withdrawn
The case gripped the nation. Hillary’s murder was horrific, but her political connections also generated much speculation regarding the motive for her death.
The subsequent arrests gave South Africa a sense of hope. Hope that our police could get results when they pulled out all the stops. Hope that the men who brutally gang-raped, assaulted and murdered Hillary would be brought to justice. And hope that Hillary’s devastated family would get the closure victims' families so desperately need.
Fast-forward to almost a year after the murder and those hopes have been smashed to smithereens.
On Wednesday Mpumalanga high court judge Takalani Ratshibvumo temporarily withdrew charges against the men after the state revealed it was unable to trace three witnesses.
An irate Ratshibvumo had harsh words for those leading the prosecution, describing the situation as “shocking”.
“When you dealt with case management, the witnesses were available,” he admonished the prosecutors.
While the word “temporarily” may provide some hope that it’s not all over, cases are rarely put back on the roll once they have been withdrawn.
So now that Sipho Lawrence Mkhatshwa, Philemon Lukhele, Mduduzi Gama and Rassie Nkune have been released, we will probably never know if they were guilty of this heinous crime. And what the real motive was for Hillary’s murder. The unanswered questions will remain. Hillary’s family will struggle to get closure. The public’s trust in law enforcement and justice will erode further.
Could Cele’s interference in the case have backfired? It certainly galvanised police into action, but what happened when the media attention died down? Did the commitment to get convictions also fade? Without the glare of media attention, did authorities take their foot off the pedal?
We are left with questions we may never get answers to. But one thing we do know is justice has failed Hillary Gardee and her family.
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