It was a stinging letter penned by her mother, an unflattering probation officer's report and almost complete lack of remorse that helped seal the fate of Raquel “Kelly” Smith.
The mother of three, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for the kidnapping and human trafficking of her daughter, six-year-old Joshlin Smith, in February 2024.
Joshlin’s abduction, and the subsequent search involving hundreds of police officers and the navy in Saldanha Bay, led to an outpouring of anger, grief and torching of the shack once occupied by Smith, her children and Appollis in the Middelpos informal settlement.
The trio had pleaded not guilty and maintained their innocence, even after being convicted, despite the court hearing compelling evidence of how they discussed selling Joshlin to a sangoma for R20,000 and sharing the money in exchange for keeping silent.
Judge Nathan Erasmus said he could find no mitigating personal circumstances and elected to impose the maximum prescribed sentence for human trafficking — life in prison. The three were each sentenced to 10 years for kidnapping.
The trio were told they would be transported to a maximum-security prison to start serving their sentences.
Erasmus noted, in handing down sentence, that Smith had as far back as August 2023 told an acquaintance she was unhappy at home and wanted to get rid of her child so she and Appollis could have a better life.
“How callous is that?” remarked the judge.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila welcomed the outcome, describing the eight-week-long trial as a “groundbreaking case in South Africa, where the accused are convicted and sentenced for trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation and kidnapping of a child victim who has been sold but has still not been found”.
Social worker Errol Pietersen, who prepared reports on the three based on interviews with them and relatives to assist with sentencing, said Smith was manipulative and had tried to hoodwink the probation officer into believing she was abandoned by her parents.
But it was a hard-hitting victim impact statement, in the form of a letter penned by her mother, Amanda Daniels Smith, that brought tears to the packed high court sitting at the multipurpose centre in Saldanha Bay.
“You don't want to take responsibility for your actions, now you want to play the victim,” wrote Daniels Smith. As these words were read out in court, Smith, seated in the dock, shook her head in disagreement.
The letter, dated May 26, was read out in Afrikaans and English. Below is a translated, lightly edited copy of the letter.
“Kelly, you have made our lives hell on earth. You came to break us and tore us apart.
“Do you know what it feels like to lie awake every night and cry? It feels like my heart is ripped out of my body because I pray for Joshlin. I pray for her safety. I pray that God will keep her safe where she is. My pillow is riddled with tears over your actions.
“Do you know how it feels every morning when I have to wake up my grandchildren for school. It weighs heavily on my heart because it feels like I have to be at their school all day to look after them because maybe something will happen to them.
“If you can only stand in my shoes for one day, look at the clock and see if [Joshlin’s brother] is two minutes [late] to come home, does not arrive at the gate, and I stand like a crazy person out in the street, checking the road to see where he is. If he has to go to rugby practice or attend school functions, I don't rest until he knocks on the door ...
“How do you think I should feel about having [Joshlin’s younger sister] with me for the school holidays and her birthday. At night when I got up to use the toilet, she flew up with her arms stretched out and asked, ‘Mummy, where are you going?’ I had to pick her up again and again and carry her to the bedroom because she was afraid I would leave her alone.
“It broke me every time she played and suddenly came to me saying, ‘Mummy, do you know my sister is gone and my mummy too.’
“How does your heart feel on Mother's Day? I cried my eyes out when my grandchildren surprised me with breakfast in bed and [Joshlin's brother] wished me a happy Mother's Day. Did you not wish you could have been with your three children? I’m the one that kneels and prays with [Joshlin's brother] in the evening. I have to help him with his schoolwork and sit at the table with him to read.
“Our personal lives and family, you tried to wash as dirty laundry through your actions.
“I as your biological [mother] had you adopted by my parents because I was young and innocent. I couldn't sit at home, expect my mother who was a teacher and my father who is an artisan to support me. I gave you to them because I went looking for a job. I knew they would give you the best in life and they did. From our side, we had to pick you up with [one child] and later when Joshlin was born to stay with us, but every time you threw that back in our faces and went back to Saldanha.
“I wanted to adopt Requin and your words to me were, ‘I will show you. I will make another child again.” I can go to [my child's] grave and cry my eyes out because my child was sick and died in hospital. Where do I go when I cry over Joshlin? I just go on my knees and pray and cry. Do you at least think how the Andrews family, who wanted the best for Joshlin in life, feel?
“You don’t want to take responsibility for your actions; now you want to play the victim. You looked at me in the face and said, ‘Mummy, I will talk the next time when we appear.' I believed you because your lawyer said you would speak ... I've pleaded with you, but you lied again. How do you sleep? How do you live with yourself?
“Your brothers and sisters are already at work, but I don't sleep at night unless I know they are safely home. That’s what a mother is. I’m also a mother, always worried about my children and grandchildren. I will not rest well until Joshlin is found.
“Do you think about how hurt [Joshlin's brother] gets when kids make fun of him about his mother using tik and selling his blood sister? I had to pick up my grandchildren from school. Through your cruel acts ugly things are said to him. At a young age he already had to defend himself against the cruel world, through your doings.
“Lastly, I want you to know Joshlin would have been given all the love and attention from the Andrews family. They would have been the best parents to her and now they are also left with great hurt. All this, because of you.”
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