Suspect in Hillary Gardee’s Murder Cheated to Get ANC Membership, Not SA Citizen, Kicked Out of Party

• The ANC has acted following the results of an internal investigation that found that Philemon Lukhele had obtained his ANC membership illegally
• Lukhele is allegedly not a South African citizen which breached the rules of the party's constitution, he was also a member of Eswatini opposition party, the People's United Democratic Movement
• The ruling party had been heavily criticised for not acting quickly after Lukhele was arrested in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee

MBOMBELA - Philemon Lukhele obtained his ANC membership illegally after an internal investigation was launched. Lukhele was arrested in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee, the daughter of the former EFF Secretary-General Godrich Gardee.

Lukhele has been charged with kidnapping, rape, possession of an illegal firearm, defeating the ends of justice and murder.

Lukhele's ANC membership had been obtained irregularly following the results of an internal investigation according to The Citizen.

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ANC Mpumalanga unable to take action against Hilary Gardee murder suspect Philemon Lukhele: "Our hands are tied"

As a result, Lukhele has been expelled from the ANC after the party invoked Rule 4 of the ANC Consitution.

News24 reported that Lukhele was also a member of the Eswatini opposition party, the People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo).

The ANC had been heavily criticised for not taking action sooner after Lukhele was arrested. A week had passed before the ruling party acted on the situation.

ANC suspends Hillary Gardee murder suspect Philemon Lukhele without pay

Earlier, Briefly News reporte that the Office of the African National Congress (ANC) Chief Whip in Mpumalanga has made the decision to suspend employee Philemon Lukhele, one of the men who are being accused of murdering 28-year-old Hillary Gardee.

Gardee was reportedly kidnapped and brutally tortured before she was shot in the head and abandoned in a field outside of Mbombela. Her body was found on Tuesday, 3 May after days of search efforts.

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ANC Mpumalanga legislature suspends Philemon Lukhele without pay for arrest in Hillary Gardee murder case

Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, ANC Chief Whip Vincent Fidel Mlombo says he went to the Nelspruit correctional services to personally deliver Lukhele's suspension letter.

Students at Nelspruit guest house dubbed “House of horror” to be evacuated following Hillary Gardee’s murder

Briefly News previously reported that a guesthouse belonging to Philemon Lukhele, who is one of the three men accused of murdering Hillary Gardee, is set to be "evacuated". The Insika Guest House in Mbombela, which houses students from the University of Mpumalanga, is said to be the location where Gardee was held captive.

EFF leader Julius Malema referred to the guesthouse as a “house of horror” on Tuesday 10 May. Lukhele, along with Albert Mduduzi Gama and Sipho Lawrence Mkhatshwa, face charges of rape, murder, kidnapping, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and conspiracy to commit murder.

They appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court and abandoned their bail application.

Source: Briefly News