A South African mother has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, in a case that shocked the nation.
Kelly Smith - also known as Racquel Smith - was convicted earlier this month alongside her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their friend, Steveno Van Rhyn.
The three were found guilty in the Western Cape High Court, which held proceedings in a community centre in Saldanha Bay to allow public access, BBC News reports.
A Community in Mourning: Courtroom Overcome with Emotion
A video clip of Joshlin laughing during a family holiday was shown during the sentencing hearing, prompting tears throughout the courtroom. Even the interpreter translating victim impact statements into English could not hold back tears.
The statements, first read in Afrikaans, painted a tragic portrait of a child betrayed by those meant to protect her.
“How do you sleep [and] live with yourself?” Joshlin’s grandmother Amanda Smith-Daniels asked her daughter in a heart-wrenching statement.
Joshlin's mom and her two co-accused refused to take the stand during the six-week trial.
Joshlin's teacher, Edna Maart, described her as a quiet, tidy student and said her classmates still ask daily where she is. “To not forget her,” Maart said, the class starts each day by listening to Joshlin's favorite gospel song, 'God Will Work It Out'.
Who Is Joshlin Smith?
Joshlin was born in October 2017 to Smith and Jose Emke. A social worker described a childhood marred by instability and drug abuse. Smith, who struggled with substance abuse from the age of 15, was abusive to her children while high. She even once threatened to stab her son, according to reports.
She failed to register Joshlin's birth until five months after the legal deadline and spent time living in shelters for abused women. During her rehab stint, family friend Natasha Andrews cared for Joshlin and had hoped to adopt her. “We could have provided for her better than her mother,” Andrews told the court.
Joshlin grew up in a cramped corrugated iron shack in the Middelpos informal settlement with her mother, siblings, and Appollis. The home offered “little in the way of privacy,” the social worker testified.
She was just six years old when she vanished from her home in the coastal town of Saldanha Bay, located around 75 miles north of Cape Town, South Africa.
Described as having fair skin and striking turquoise eyes, Joshlin’s photo — hair tied neatly in pigtails — was widely circulated in the media as the search for her intensified.
On the day she vanished, Joshlin and her brother stayed home because they had no clean school uniforms. They were left mainly in the care of Appollis, while Smith came and went to smoke drugs. According to state witness Laurentia Lombaard, who was present that day, Joshlin went missing sometime in the afternoon.
The disappearance wasn't reported until 9:00PM.
The social worker who compiled the pre-sentencing report described Smith as “manipulative” and “the mastermind behind the trafficking of her own daughter.”
Police, firefighters, and canine units scoured sand dunes and coastal terrain near her home. Community members joined forces, rallying in solidarity with the family they believed were victims of a horrific crime.
At first, Joshlin’s mother was a figure of public sympathy. Locals volunteered to help her and authorities comb through every possible lead. But what emerged in the weeks and months following her arrest shattered that image entirely.
Accusations of Dark Intentions and Chilling Testimony
During the alarming trial, one witness claimed Smith sold Joshlin to a traditional healer, or "sangoma", for her “eyes and skin.”
A local pastor testified he heard Smith mention selling her children for 20,000 rand each but would settle for just $275.
At the heart of the prosecution’s case was the testimony of two of Smith’s neighbors — Lourentia Lombaard and Paulina Tshosa — and Joshlin’s schoolteacher. Their accounts painted a chilling portrait of what allegedly happened in the days leading up to Joshlin’s disappearance.
As reported by BBC News, Lombaard - a friend and neighbor of Smith’s - became a key state witness. She testified that Smith confided in her just before the child vanished, saying: “I did something silly. I sold my child to a sangoma".
According to Lombaard, Smith even packed Joshlin’s belongings into a black bag before going to meet a woman believed to be the healer.
Lombaard also told the court that Smith had tried to buy silence. “She offered money to me and others in exchange for our silence,” she alleged. The defense attempted to discredit Lombaard by highlighting her drug use and claiming she was an “opportunist,” but she stood firm on the stand, admitting to drug use but refusing to retract her statement.
The State, led by Advocate Zelda Swanepoel, argued that life sentences were warranted: “We don’t have her, we don’t know where she is... All of that is aggravating.”
Despite the convictions, Joshlin's whereabouts remain unknown since her disappearance on February 19, 2024. The case has become a national tragedy, capturing public attention across South Africa.
National Outcry and Continuing Hope
Criminologist Bianca van Aswegen likened the case to that of Madeleine McCann and highlighted the alarming reality of child trafficking in South Africa. “It is much more of a crisis than police stats actually show us due to the fact of many cases going unreported,” she said, per BBC News.
Van Aswegen added: “I have never really seen a case blow up like this in South Africa before.” With 632 children reported missing last year and over 8,700 in the past decade, the urgency of tackling this crisis is clear.
Despite the verdict, Joshlin’s adoptive family refuses to give up hope. Natasha Andrews’ 14-year-old daughter, Tayla, wrote a poem expressing her pain and longing. “We just want to hug you again,” Andrews said. “You are our flower, our baby and our green-eyed child.”