Durban - Godrich Gardee from the firm Godrich Gardee Attorneys and his family are pleading with society to help find their missing daughter, Hillary Gardee, who was last seen on April 29 in Nelspruit.
The distressed top lawyer and former secretary-general of the EFF, Godrich Gardee, said the family was concerned about the safety of their daughter.
“It is very difficult for all of us but we are trying to remain strong and hope that she returns home safely,” Gardee explained.
In a statement released by the family, the 28-year-old had on Friday last week, gone shopping with a 3-year-old child at the Super Spar Plaza in Mbombela, however, Hillary never returned home.
Family spokesperson Moses Nichol Mbatha told the Daily News that a child was found by community members in the KamaGugu area outside Mbombela.
“The 3-year-old baby girl is unharmed. She had been under the care of Hillary and her brother. She was apparently dropped off in a street 2km away from Hillary’s house. We have since opened a case of a missing person at Nelspruit police station, case no: 3/04/2022,” said Mbatha.
According to the family, Hillary was wearing a black top and black trousers with groceries and a laptop bag. A R100 000 reward for anyone who can assist in locating Gardee has been announced by the family.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli said Nelspruit police were appealing to the community to assist in locating Hillary who was reported missing.
Mdhluli confirmed that the child was found but Hillary was nowhere to be found.
He said Hillary was reported missing by her family on Saturday.
“She was last seen wearing a black top and black trousers. She is approximately 1.6 metres tall and she has a piercing on her nose. She is also light in complexion,” Mdhluli said.
He said anyone with information that may assist police in tracing Hillary Gardee is urged to contact Detective Constable Sthembile Zitha on 072 474 0835 or call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111.
Alternatively members of the public can send information via MySAPSApp. All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.
RT #sapsMP Police in Nelspruit appeal for assistance in locating Hillary Gardee (28) from Kamagugu, who was last seen on 29 April 2022 at Spar Supermarket in Nelspruit. Anyone with info to contact D/Cst Zitha on 0724740835. #CrimeStop #MySAPSApp MLhttps://t.co/EAtjitryn4 pic.twitter.com/YCKoDiG9Zk
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) May 2, 2022
The top lawyer’s firm has been receiving extensive media coverage for the high-profile litigations the firm is involved in.
Earlier in the year, Gardee announced that his firm was representing thousands of people who have allegedly suffered discrimination by South African banks in a class-action suit.
The powerful banks have been accused of perpetuating apartheid-era tactics in the country’s embattled financial services sector for among other things, closing the accounts of black people and black-owned companies.
He said his clients were people overbilled on interest on their mortgages and whose bank accounts were arbitrarily terminated due to their purportedly being risks to the banks.
He said individuals or organisations that had their accounts, credit, and loan facilities terminated without good cause or on the basis of racial discrimination, could join the class action.
“Our clients invite the South African public to make contact with us and register their interest to fight against the boundless public power exercised by banks and other financial institutions,” Gardee said.
Many South Africans have since responded to the call to join Gardee in a fight against the banks, including former deputy director-general at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Siphokazi Ndudane, and former Fedusa secretary-general Dennis George, along with others, who have joined the fight against the banking sector.
Daily News