'We must presume Joshlin is still alive': judge in pretrial hearing of kidnapping, trafficking case

“We must presume that little Joshlin is still alive.”

Judge Gayaat Salie da Silva said this during the pretrial hearing of the kidnapping and human trafficking case against Kelly Smith — the mother of a six-year-old girl who went missing from the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay on the West Coast 11 months ago — in the Cape Town high court on Friday.

Racquel Chantel Smith, known as Kelly, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Smith, however, stood crying alone in the dock as the court heard there was an administrative error that resulted in Appollis and Van Rhyn not being fetched from Pollsmoor prison and taken to court.

The court heard legal representation had been appointed for the accused.

Smith reported her daughter's disappearance on February 19. She told police Joshlin was, at the time of her disappearance, in the care of Appollis while she was at work.

The court heard the trial may proceed in the circuit court sitting in Saldanha Bay due to widespread interest by the community who lacked the means to travel to the high court in Cape Town.

Da Silva said: “We all sat in court this morning in pretrials all dealing with matters where injury to the victims has already happened. Here we are dealing with human trafficking and a kidnapping charge of a young child, a young little girl. In the absence of any further charges or amendments by the state we must presume that little Joshlin is still alive.”

State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel said the investigation was ongoing.

According to the indictment, Smith allegedly made it known in August 2023 that she planned to have her three children taken away or sold in January or February 2024.

“On Sunday February 18, [Smith] and Joshlin walked to a white motor vehicle parked nearby. An unknown female alighted from the vehicle and conversed with [Smith]. This woman handed something to [Smith]. [Smith] and Joshlin returned home,” reads the indictment.

“Later that day, Jacquin, Steveno, Kelly and Lourentia [Lombaard, a fourth accused against whom charges were later withdrawn] discussed the plan and how the money would be divided.”

Smith told Joshlin and her older sibling the next day they would not be going to school. Smith allegedly packed Joshlin’s clothes into a bag and left to go to work. Lombaard, Appolis and Van Rhyn allegedly “smoked” at Smith's home until she returned, fetched Joshlin and a bag of clothes and left.

According to the indictment, the mother and daughter got into a white vehicle that drove away. “Later the same night [Smith] started looking for Joshlin and reported her missing to the police. Despite ongoing investigations into the whereabouts of Joshlin, she has still not been found.”

The state alleges that at all times and places mentioned in the charges the accused had a common purpose and acted together to achieve that purpose, namely, to commit the offences embodied in the charges.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said a meeting to find a suitable venue for the circuit court matter was under discussion. Consultations had also been held with a [section 204] witness who will be compelled to testify.

He said more charges were imminent.

The matter was postponed to February 28.

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