Touching: Godrich Gardee’s emotional tribute to Hillary

Family, friends, and mourners gathered to pay their last respects to Hillary Gardee at Church on the Hill on Saturday, 7 May, where Godrich Gardee shared a moving tribute to his slain daughter.

Hillary’s lifeless body was found dumped at a timber plantation about 40km outside Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

In a pre-recorded video, Godrich shared how he believed he would see her daughter growing and playing with his grandchildren.

“We birth children to bury us. I was so naive; I believed I would see you grow and play with your grandchildren, who shall bury me. From the moment you were born, you were named after great human leaders in the world, for in you we saw a bright future. Little did we know you would die a tragic death.”

He continued: “A death characterized by boot prints on your chest, a blunt object striking your head, stab wounds on your breast and neck, gunshot at the back of your head and bleeding nose.

It never occurred to me and your loved ones that we will have to identify you in the bush, lying face down with your hands clutching tightly on the grass and shrinking, fighting for your life. The distance of you crawling to the road and grass, where we found you, tells us the story of a fighter we never knew.”

He added that Hillary’s daughter’s words hinted to the family that she was in danger.

“Your daughter, Aliyah, said to us: ‘Mum said she is coming to pick me up; mum bought me this jacket; mum is fighting.’ It was the latter words of the three-year-old that sent shock waves to us, and we finally caught on that we were dealing with something that would end in tears. And indeed, it has ended in tears.”

Godrich said the family remained strong, hoping while they continued searching for her in bushes in Kamagugu.

“We went to visit streets with your photo, the bushes, and called out your name at weird hours of the night, thinking you would answer back and we would rescue you,” he said.

He added that they never stopped searching until a call came through, telling them to terminate the search.

“We never stopped searching for you up until a call came through: ‘Bhuti, terminate the operation. It is done; come to Sabie.’ The call was clear, and I knew what was awaiting me. I stumbled, fumbled, and nearly fell over you. I greeted you and you never answered back. I asked you questions and you remained silent. I am told the story of your gruesome death, and I now turn to the people who killed you. They cried the loudest. They are cowards, and their cowardice killed you. You have been killed by the silence of the country against this new crime everyone was silent about until this gruesome death, and only now they are coming out. Criminals have nowhere to hide.”

Watch:

#HillaryGardee the pain 💔 is unbearable.
Rest In Peace sister until we meet again.
We love you @GardeeGodrich pic.twitter.com/TQ39KJVqCQ

— Rakgadi👙Official 👙 Handle👙⛱👙⛱ (@BlackCulture_EM) May 7, 2022

Gardee described her daughter as a jack of all trades who valued education.

The family has plans to establish the Hillary Gardee Foundation as her legacy project.

A suspect, between the ages of 30 and 40, has been arrested for the murder. Mpumalanga police boss Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela said more arrests were imminent.

-daily sun

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