A woman has been sentenced to prison after she was one of the three people found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking her 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith.
In February last year, Smith went missing from outside her house in Saldanha Bay, Cape Town.
Her mother, Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, her boyfriends, Jacquen Appollis and his friend Steveno van Rhyn ended up on trial with the mother accused of being a ‘sangoma’ aka a traditional healer that ‘wanted her for her eyes and skin’.
More than 30 eye witnesses revealed to the court some horrific details about what could have happened to the child.
‘Kelly’ Smith’s neighbor, Lourentia Lombaard claimed she told her that she had sold her child to a sangona for 20,000 rand ($1,100).
“[The] person who [allegedly took] Joshlin wanted her for her eyes and skin,” Lombaard said.
A pastor from the area also claimed that he’d heard Smith discussing selling her children back in 2023, adding that she had heard her talking about earning as much as $1,100 but that she would accept $275.
Joshlin’s teacher alleged that the mother had said her daughter was ‘inside a ship container’ and ‘on the way to West Africa’.
The trial at White City Multipurpose Centre lasted 8 weeks, where Judge Nathan Erasmus sentenced each of the three to life in prison.
https://x.com/AfricanHub_/status/1918375590358294528
He said: “On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.”
The search for Joshlin is still underway, with Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile sharing: “We will not rest until we find [out] what happened to Joshlin. We are continuing day and night looking for her.”
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) concluded that the sentence proves that the child was ‘sold [and] delivered to the intended buyer’ for the aim of ‘exploitation, namely slavery or practices similar to slavery’.
Heartbreaking.
Post a Comment