Joshlin Smith's mother, co-accused charged with kidnapping, human trafficking related to her disappearance

SALDANHA BAY - The trial related to missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith began on Monday, with State prosecutors formally charging the accused.

Joshlin's mother Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appolis and Stevano van Rhyn have been formally charged with kidnapping and human trafficking for the little girl's disappearance.

The accused on Monday appeared in the Saldanha Bay Multi-purpose Centre, which has been proclaimed a high court for this case.

State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel on Monday introduced the trial's first witness, Constable Yanga Gongotha.

Gongotha detailed how he and his partner responded to a complaint in Middelpos about a missing girl on the day Joshlin disappeared. 

He told the court that when they entered Middelopos, Kelly and another woman flagged them down, saying that when she came from work, Joshlin was gone.

The State witness said that Kelly did not seem worried and her behaviour was not that of a mother who had lost her child.

Gongotha told the court that when Kelly took him to meet Appolis, Kelly did not ask him about the whereabouts of Joshlin and was more concerned about whether he had bought gas.

The trial continues.