'I sold my child to a sangoma': witness drops bombshell in Joshlin trial

A day before green-eyed Joshlin Smith went missing, her mother confided in a friend that she had sold her daughter to a sangoma for R20,000.

Former co-accused turned state witness Lourentia Lombaard dropped this bombshell during her evidence-in-chief on Friday in the high court in Saldanha Bay.

Lombard, also known as Renz, was arrested last year with Racquel “Kelly” Smith, Smith's boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn. However, she later turned state witness.

The remaining three accused pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

“I went around to Kelly and Jacquin and I heard her say to him, 'Boeta, hier is die geld wat die sangoma gegee het [here is the money the sangoma gave],” after which he asked how much and she said R20,000.

Lombaard said Van Rhyn was outside the shack. She knocked on the door and asked what was happening.

Smith told her: “Renz, I caught on k*k. I sold my child to a sangoma.” Lombaard asked why she had done that and the answer was that Smith was struggling financially.

Lombaard told Smith she could have asked for help if she needed money but Smith replied “it is finished” and explained she would give Lombaard R1,000, Van Rhyn R1,200 and the rest would be shared between her and Appollis.

They were instructed not to tell anyone.

Lombaard told the court earlier in the day she was from Worcester and moved to Saldanha Bay in 2017 where she first lived with her brother and later with her boyfriend Ayanda, a drug dealer, with whom she had two children.  

She came to know Smith and Appollis because they purchased drugs from Ayanda. She knew Van Rhyn because he helped out at a car wash run by Ayanda.

On February 18 2024 — a day before Joshlin went missing — Smith had used a rock to break a window at her shack after threatening Appollis with a knife, saying she would kill him.

The court heard at 1pm, after dropping off food for Ayanda at the car wash, Lombaard ate chicken and pap with her two small children and later went to Smith's shack.

From outside she could hear the couple talking inside the shack. Smith wanted to tell her boyfriend something about Joshlin but he replied in Afrikaans: “I don't have time to listen to your nonsense.”

Lombaard heard a phone ring. Smith answered and spoke in English, saying, “I’m coming now. I’m just waiting for Boeta [to] finish with his job”.

Smith told Appollis: “Boeta, finish up, the people are waiting for me”. Smith called Joshlin and they walked past Lombaard who asked where they were going and was told it was none of her business.

Lombaard watched them walk to a white VW Polo with slightly tinted windows. A man was driving and a woman emerged from the passenger seat, spoke to her and then gave something to Smith who placed the item down the front of her pants. The passenger wore green clothing, had white spots on her face and wore a band around her head with a big accessory.

“It looked like a sangoma to me, because I could see from the dots on her face. I have seen it before,” testified Lombaard.  

It was later that day she went to the couple's shack and overheard the conversation about R20,000.

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