- Judge Nathan Erasmus said Kelly Smith and Jacquen Appollis did not act like people who were worried about a missing child.
- A family friend tried to adopt Joshlin in 2018, but her parents refused to cooperate. The state says this could be why she was eventually “sold”.
Joshlin Smith’s mother, Kelly Smith, and her two co-accused have been found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking, more than a year after the child disappeared from their home.
Western Cape High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus found Kelly, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn guilty on Friday. All three had denied the charges.
Joshlin has not been seen since 19 February 2024, when she vanished from her home in Saldanha Bay.
In a strong statement from the bench, Erasmus said: “The conduct of Appollis and Kelly was not that of a concerned parent, and in my opinion, it was because you knew.”
He said Appollis and Kelly’s behaviour, and their silence in court, suggested they knew what had happened.
Erasmus said the accused had failed to speak up in court when faced with serious claims. This silence, he said, worked against them.
Erasmus spoke emotionally about the role of the community in protecting children.
“It becomes our responsibility that every child who grows up in our village can turn into a contributing member of our society,” he said.
He said social workers had been worried about Kelly since 2016. They knew about her drug problems and concerns around her other children.
Joshlin’s birth had not even been registered until social workers got involved in 2018.
That same year, a family friend tried to adopt Joshlin. But the court heard that Kelly and Joshlin’s father would not cooperate. The state argued this may be why Joshlin was eventually “sold”.
Van Rhyn’s lawyer, Nobahle Mkabayi, said the state’s main witness, Lourentia “Rens” Lombard, could not be trusted.
She called Lombard a liar and a drug user who changed her story several times.
Lombard was given immunity from prosecution under Section 204. She confessed months after the incident. Mkabayi said Lombard had lied to police multiple times and only told the truth in October, after being arrested in March.
“She fooled an officer … she then appeared before Captain Lombard and did not stop lying,” said Mkabayi.
But the judge accepted Lombard’s version of events, supported by other witness testimony, and found all three accused guilty.
Pictured above: Joshlin Smith.
Image source: @ddt_golf25
