Publications
- A state witness has accused two Eldorado Park police officers of abusing residents of the township.
- Constable Mandla Dumisani Sithole said Sergeant Simon Scorpion Ndyalvane randomly shot at people not wearing masks.
- Sithole accused Constable Caylene Whiteboy of forcing residents to do push-ups and frog jumps in the street.
A police officer said two of his colleagues accused of killing Nateniël Julies in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, in 2020 were apparently a law unto themselves.
Constable Mandla Dumisani Sithole told the Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge that Sergeant Simon Scorpion Ndyalvane and his co-accused Constable Caylene Whiteboy applied force when dealing with residents of Eldorado Park.
Sithole described Ndyalvane as a trigger-happy policeman while Whiteboy, he said, used to physically punish residents.
"During the lockdown, Ndyalvane would open fire on groups of people not wearing masks. I remember Whiteboy forcing people to perform push-ups and frog jumps," Sithole testified.
Sithole said on the night Julies was killed in August 2020, he saw Ndyalvane carrying shotgun ammunition that he had not seen before.
Julies was allegedly killed with shotgun ammunition, which police were prohibited from using.
READ | Nateniël Julies: Cops discussed lying to superiors, covering up fatal shooting, court hears
"On 26 August 2020, Ndyalvane was carrying live shotgun ammunition when he left the charge office. He tucked the rounds inside his bulletproof vest. After the murder, I also saw him carrying shotgun rounds that I had never seen before.
"At the SAPS college, I was trained only to use rubber bullets that are transparent and contain two balls. The ones Ndyalvane were carrying were green in colour," Sithole testified.
Earlier, Judge Ramarumo Monama dismissed an application for a trial within a trial.
Earlier, the trial was delayed after the State and the defence lawyer argued about the admissibility of a cellphone recording made by Sithole during and after Julies' murder.
Objected
The defence lawyer objected to the contents of the recording.
Prosecutor, advocate Johan Badenhorst, said the matter should be moved to a trial within a trial for the court to listen to the recordings.
"The recording was made when the crime was in progress, and we are planning to play the recording today (Wednesday). We are not relying on a typed document but a recording. The State is relying on a crucial recording," Badenhorst said.
WATCH | Cop accused of Nateniël Julies murder has previous conviction, court hears
Ndyalvane's legal representative, advocate Mandla Mnyatheli, said he had earlier indicated that parts of the transcripts were not in the recording.
Monama replied that a trial within a trial was about confessions and whether they were made freely and voluntarily.
"It is to determine whether it was voluntary evidence or there was coercion. What we have here is that Sithole recorded a conversation, and he has included himself.
"When one has listened to evidence tendered by Sithole, he said he heard Ndyalvane saying Whiteboy didn't have to worry because (their co-accused) Sergeant Foster Netshiongolo will look after them.
"Sithole is also caught in the middle, and he is speaking. What will we be seeking to determine with a trial within a trial? The objection is dismissed, and I will give my ruling in the judgment," Monama said.
Ndyalvane, Netshiongolo and Whiteboy have pleaded not guilty to killing Julies, 16, who was shot dead outside his home in Eldorado Park in August 2020.
The hearing continues.
