Nathaniel Julies's grieving mother Bridget Harris at Protea Magistrate's Court where three police officers - Sergeant Simon Scorpion Ndyalvane, 46, and his co-accused Constable Caylene Whiteboy, 23, and Sergeant Foster Netshiongolo, 37, were denied their bail application for the murder, 28 September 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Residents of Eldorado Park cheered with joy in the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto when the bail applications for the three accused of the death of Nathaniel Julies was denied.
The police officers Simon “Scorpion” Ndyalvane, Caylene Whiteboy and Vorster Netshiongolo, are accused of killing 16-year-old Julies, who had Down syndrome, near his home last month.
They were denied bail after the defence failed to convince the court the three should be granted bail. According to Magistrate David Mangho, there were no exceptional circumstances warranting their release.
He said the state raised fears of witness intimidation, should Ndyalvane and Netshiongolo be released on bail.
“If the three were released on bail, they are most likely to interfere with investigations and [intimidate] state witnesses as were witnessed in the police vehicle when they rushed Julies to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital after he was shot.
“It was revealed during the application that Ndyalivana had threatened Whiteboy with death via WhatsApp messages.
“It is also alleged that Netshiongolo tampered with the crime scene after Julies was killed,” Mangho said.
The magistrate said he had to consider the peace in the community when making his decision because if the bail application was approved the community would demonstrate their anger towards the trio.
The matter was postponed to 6 November.
Julies’ mother, Bridget Harris, said she was happy bail had been denied and felt confident the state was moving in the right direction to serve justice for her son’s life.
“We still have a long way to go and many more confessions needs to be made. My child was brutally murdered and the dogs who did it need to pay for what they have done,” she said.
“It is becoming difficult for me to accept that my son is no longer around. I miss him every day.”
Resident Astian de Villiers said the community was sick and tired of the corruption in the system which allowed those who did
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