Court told Gayton McKenzie, social media influencers may have compromised police investigation into Joshlin Smith's disappearance

CAPE TOWN - The investigating officer in the Joshlin Smith case has singled out prominent politician Gayton McKenzie and certain social media influencers for affecting the police's investigation into the child's disappearance.

Captain Wesley Lombard was in the dock on Thursday to testify about his team's investigation after Joshlin went missing from Middelpos in Saldanha Bay in February last year.

Joshlin's mother, Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Stevano van Rhyn are charged with kidnapping and human trafficking related to the little girl's disappearance.

Lombard told the court that social media posts related to the search for Joshlin Smith may have compromised the police's investigation.

He said that when he took over the investigation a week after Joshlin went missing, it became clear to him that Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie had involved himself in the search for Joshlin.

At the time, McKenzie, who later became minister of sports, arts and culture, used his social media profile to update the public about his party's own search for the missing girl.

Lombard told the court that the public were given false information that police had called off the search for Joshlin and were not adequately resourced to find the child.

The captain said that the negative social media impact made it difficult for police to obtain more information and leads related to the case, and possibly compromised the investigation.