Trio face judgment in trial probing disappearance of Joshlin Smith | Breaking News & Latest South Africa Updates

Trio face judgment in trial probing disappearance of Joshlin Smith — The mother of missing child Joshlin Smith and two co-accused will hear their fate on Friday when judgment is delivered in their kidnapping and human t...

The mother of missing child Joshlin Smith and two co-accused will hear their fate on Friday when judgment is delivered in their kidnapping and human trafficking trial in the Western Cape High Court in Saldanha Bay.

Joshlin’s mother Raquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn are accused of being behind the six-year-old's disappearance on February 19 2024.

The trio pleaded not guilty and elected not to testify.

Lourentia Lombaard, a former co-accused in the case, became a section 204 witness — a person implicated in a crime allowed to testify truthfully against other accused in exchange for indemnity from prosecution.

Lombaard testified Smith told her the child had been sold to a sangoma. The alleged price was R20,000.

Joshlin's grade 1 teacher Edna Maart testified Smith got into her vehicle while the community was searching for Joshlin and claimed a Nigerian man had the girl who was on a boat to West Africa.

Evangelist Nico Coetzee told the court Smith told him in August 2023 her children would be taken away due to her family being “bad” and in early 2024 the west coast town would resemble a “movie scene”.

TimesLIVE

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