Johannesburg: A South African court has convicted a mother and two men of kidnapping and trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, in a deeply disturbing case that has gripped the nation since the child’s disappearance last year.
Joshlin vanished from her home in the small community of Middelpos in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, on February 19, 2024. Despite a national search campaign, she remains missing.
On Friday, the Western Cape High Court found Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen Apollis, and their friend, Steveno Van Rhyn, guilty of trafficking and kidnapping. Prosecutors accused the trio of selling the child in exchange for money.
In a case that drew national attention, a South African court found a mother and two accomplices guilty of kidnapping and trafficking her 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, who went missing in February 2024 from her home in Western Cape https://t.co/RWwMA7wk75 pic.twitter.com/MnMRbHIkLw
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 3, 2025
Judge Nathan Erasmus, delivering the verdict, directly addressed Kelly Smith in court, stating: “The conduct of … Ms Smith is not that of a concerned parent. And why not? In my mind the only inference is that you knew (what happened).”
Smith remained silent throughout the proceedings.
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The trial revealed chilling testimony, including that of a witness who told the court that Smith confessed to selling her daughter to a sangoma — a traditional healer — for 20,000 rand (approximately $1,100), claiming the girl was wanted for her “eyes and skin.” The court, however, did not specify in its ruling to whom the child was ultimately sold or the intended purpose.
The three convicted individuals have been remanded in custody while they await sentencing.
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