Hillary Gardee murder accused's guest house set alight

A guest house belonging to one of the three men arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Hillary Gardee was allegedly petrol-bombed on Thursday night, just a few hours after their court appearance where their case was postponed for further investigations. 

Insika Guest House, owned by Philemon Lukhele, was targeted at about 10pm on Thursday night. 

A family member told TimesLIVE he received a call from neighbours alerting him to a fire at the guest house. 

“I rushed to the property and when we arrived we found it was on fire and we started to extinguish it while waiting for the fire department. We also found petrol poured all over the house and also found several petrol bottles,” he said. 

According to the relative, neighbours told them they saw a car parked outside the yard and occupants jumped over the wall to access the petrol. 

“They said shortly afterwards they saw fire and the occupants jumped over the wall and sped off in the car,” he said. 

The property was being used as accommodation for University of Mpumalanga students and it is believed that Gardee was allegedly kept captive and possibly raped and murdered there. 

Last month the university issued a statement, saying it had cancelled its contract with the guest house owner because of the allegations against him.

Dean of students Paul Maminza said the university had accredited three Insika facilities to accommodate students. He said students staying at the three facilities were told the accreditation had been terminated and they would have to relocate to other accredited accommodation.

A day before Gardee's funeral, police raided the guest house, saying it was a place of interest. 

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala could not immediately confirm the incident but promised to get back to TimesLIVE with a response. 

TimesLIVE