Witness recalls how Julies was dragged from under a truck

The first witness in the trial against three officers arrested in connection with the murder of Nateniel Julies described to the court how one of the officers dragged the teen from under a truck and put him in the back of a state van and sped off.

Tasneen Kaldine, who lives across from where Julies was shot and killed on August 26 last year, told the high court in Johannesburg, sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court, that she was shaken by a loud bang while she was watching television.

“I immediately stood up and ran to the door because I was worried about my daughter. I didn’t know if she was in the vicinity,” said Kaldine.

She said her house is located opposite to where a broken down truck has been parked for years.

“I opened the door and saw a police vehicle between the truck and the block of flats. I saw a police officer walking to the truck and he bent under the truck as if he was searching for something,” she said.

“He picked up the boy and pulled him from under the truck. He was struggling and I was wondering what he was looking for. The boy was laying under the truck. He pulled him out and carried him from under his arms and carried him into the van. He then jumped into the van, switched on the lights and the siren and drove off,” said Kaldine.

She said she could not identify the boy but her daughter later told her that it was Julies.

“She [her daughter] then ran to Nateniel’s house, where she told his family what she saw,” Kaldine told the court.

She was testifying for the state in a case against Cnst Caylene Whiteboy, Sgt Scorpion Ndyalvane and Sgt Forster Netshiongolo, who have been implicated in the murder of the 16-year-old boy who lived with Down Syndrome.

Whiteboy and Ndyalvane pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, defeating the ends of justice, possession of illegal ammunition and perjury.

During the trio’s bail application last year, Whiteboy alleged that she was being framed by Ndyalvane.

She claimed that she had fired shots at Julies not knowing that the firearm was loaded with live and prohibited ammunition.

Whiteboy further alleged that she had fired the shots on the instruction of Ndyalvane, who was her senior, and that he made her submit a false statement that implicated her and threatened to kill her.

Netshiongolo pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory to murder after the fact and defeating the ends of justice after he allegedly tampered with the crime scene by kicking soil onto Julies’s blood after the shooting.

He is also alleged to have claimed to have found two 9mm cartridges at the scene, which he handed over to his superiors in a bid to assist his co-accused to avoid prosecution.

The trial continues.