Sonke Gender Justice has criticised the South African justice system after charges against the four men accused of killing Hillary Gardee have been provisionally withdrawn due to the unavailability of state witnesses.
It is revealed that the accused, Sipho Lawrence Mkhatshwa, Albert Mduduzi Gama, Philemon Lukhele and Rassie Hlabirwa Nkune, faced charges of murder, kidnapping, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and defeating the ends of justice.
The organisation condemns what it calls a “woeful” SA justice system.
Gardee, who is the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, was found killed execution-style in Mbombela, Nelspruit, in April last year.
Sonke believes this reflects badly on the system that assured the public that it has a strong case against the alleged perpetrators.
Sonke’s co-executive director, and co-chairperson of the Global Men Engage Alliance, Bafana Khumalo said: “This is one more failure by the criminal justice system. These suspects were in jail for months on end. The family was eagerly awaiting court processes to end to have closure, now the suspects have been released with a provisional withdrawal. We don’t know why this is the case only now.”
Khumalo expressed sympathy with the Gardee family, condemning the justice system in SA for another failure to a GBV victim.
“We feel the pain of the family who has to continue with the trauma of not knowing who was responsible for the death of their loved one. It’s no wonder GBV is so high in this country, the system is woeful.
“Sonke Gender Justice is deeply concerned about the cases of gender-based violence in South Africa. The state must do better in the interest of justice for victims of this heinous crime.”
The organisation has been at the forefront of confronting gender-based violence and has recently spoken about it while the country marked Human Rights Day.
“Violence against women is staggeringly high in South Africa, with an estimated one in three women experiencing domestic and sexual violence. In many of these cases, survivors are failed by the criminal justice system. We also know that many survivors do not bother to report cases of abuse because they simply have lost confidence in the system that periodically is found wanting in such matters.”