'I feel deeply hurt': witness expresses regret over fate of Joshlin Smith

A former accused turned state witness on Monday said she feels deeply hurt about what happened to six-year-old Joshlin Smith.

Lourentia Lombaard, who last week testified the child was “sold” to a traditional healer for R20,000, told the high court in Saldanha Bay she tried to stop Racquel “Kelly” Smith from going through with plans to have her daughter taken away but “she would not listen to me”.

“I feel very hurt. I’m a mother of four children,” she testified.

Lombaard said four days after Joshlin was reported missing, she saw Smith and her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis walking to their shack with an unknown man and woman. She called out to them and Smith replied: “Don't call my name so loudly because people are looking for me.”

She was searching for her son’s school clothes, an identification card and a bank card.

Lombaard testified they were alone in the shack when Smith told her somebody knew what she had done with Joshlin. She added a person was paying her to keep quiet. “I asked who is the person. She never told me.”

Smith told her a person looking for Joshlin wanted the child for her eyes and skin.

“After that Friday, I did not see Kelly,” she told the court.

Lombaard appealed to whoever had the child to return her alive.

Smith, Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Lombaard testified earlier about allegedly being offered a cut of R20,000 in exchange for her silence about what happened to Joshlin. However, she was ultimately not paid.

The court heard previously that after charges were dropped against Lombaard, her statement was taken on October 11 and 16. She agreed to turn state witness and “wanted to tell the truth and not hide anything”. 

She testified that on the day Joshlin went missing, February 19 2024, she had tried to establish how the couple planned to have Joshlin taken away.

The court heard evidence suggesting Smith had asked her boyfriend to get Joshlin ready at 2pm as that was when people would arrive to fetch her. Smith packed clothes for her daughter in a cooler box and left for work.

The trial continues.

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