Cop questioned on alleged four-hour assault of accused in Joshlin Smith trial

The investigating officer in the kidnapping and human trafficking case of missing Joshlin Smith was grilled in the high court in Saldanha Bay on Tuesday about the alleged torture by police of an accused believed to be behind the little girl's disappearance.

Attorney Nobahle Mkabayi, representing Steveno van Rhyn, put it to Capt Wesley Lombard during cross-examination that her client was taken to Jacobs Bay in a police vehicle on March 4 2024 where he lay on his stomach in the back of the vehicle and was beaten while being questioned.

“The beating took 30 minutes. They took my client out of the van and told him they were going to bury Steveno. While standing on the beach, one of the members pinched his private parts and, as if it could not get any worse, they opened his mouth and put a firearm in his mouth and asked where Joshlin is,” said Mkabayi. 

Lombard said he could not comment as he was not there.

He previously testified that after he and other police officers conducted a search, they were requested by their superiors to conduct independent interviews with  Van Rhyn, Raquel “Kelly Smith and Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis when they were brought to the Sea Border offices at Vredenberg police station. 

The court heard the interviews were conducted at about 10pm. 

Mkabayi suggested that when Van Rhyn arrived at the station from Jacobs Bay two officers assaulted him and her instructions from her client were when Lombard questioned him  while walking up and down at the station, he instructed his officers to beat him. 

Lombard said Van Rhyn’s instructions were not true.

“My client was instructed to take his top off, to take his handcuffs off, lie on his back and he was instructed to pull his knees to his chest while in a sitting position. He was instructed to pull his arms to his knees and handcuffed again [and] his arms were locked under his knees,” said Mkabayi. 

“Below his arms a steel rod was put on two chairs, one on the left and right and my client hung in between. He was covered with a plastic bag over his head and could not see. If he wanted to speak, he had to scream. 

“The torture continued for four hours and to be able to breathe he bit the plastic, but they added more plastic.”

Lombard said he could not comment on the allegations as he was not there and stated none of the accused were handcuffed while the interviews were under way. 

The trial continues.

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