Judge in Joshlin Smith trial expects new evidence to emerge during sentencing proceedings

CAPE TOWN - After being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking her daughter, Joshlin Smith, questions are looming on whether Kelly Smith will take the stand to testify during sentencing procedures.

Presiding Judge Nathan Erasmus said he foresaw a possibility that new evidence may come to light during sentencing proceedings.

The Joshlin Smith trial came to an end on Friday last week, when Erasmus found Smith and her co-accused, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, guilty.

Despite the ruling, authorities are still clueless as to the whereabouts of Joshlin, who was six years old when she disappeared from her Middelpos home in Saldanha in February last year.

Questions now remain about whether the accused will testify in mitigation of their sentences by providing more details as to what really happened to Joshlin.

ALSO READ:

• Woman taken in for questioning after Kelly Smith's house burned to the ground

• NPA praises prosecutors & investigators following judgment in Joshlin Smith trial

After three months of court proceedings, Erasmus handed down his judgement in the Western Cape High Court, sitting at the White City Multi-purpose Centre in Saldanha on Friday last week.

Joshlin's mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Apppollis, and his friend Van Rhyn were arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking related to the child's disappearance in March last year.

The accused's arrests followed unrest in the informal settlement of Middelpos and the neighbouring suburb of Diazville, where residents threatened to burn the homes of the accused and others they suspected of being involved in Joshlin's disappearance.

A massive search for Joshlin ensued, with Saldanha Bay residents and police joining hands to find the missing girl.

Police's efforts went as far as the North Sea, where Interpol located a container ship said to be carrying Joshlin.

During court proceedings, investigating officer Captain Wesley Lombard revealed that Interpol searched the ship, but there was no sign of Joshlin, although 21 Filipinos were found on board.

KELLY'S PLAN TO SELL HER 3 KIDS FOR R20,000

The State's indictment against Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn showed that there was enough evidence to suggest the accused were part of a plot by Smith to sell Joshlin to an unknown person for R20,000.

During the trial, the State's main witnesses included police officers, former accused, Lourencia Lombaard, and a preacher from Diazville, Steven Coetzee, among more than 30 others who took the stand.

Coetzee told the court that he was not friends with Smith, but they were acquainted because they both came to Saldanha from Namaqualand.

The evangelist detailed how he crossed paths with Smith on a misty morning in Middelpos in August 2023, six months before Joshlin went missing.

Coetzee said Smith told him about her financial woes and how she was struggling to make ends meet.

He told the court that Smith relayed she intended to sell her three children for R20,000, but that R5,000 would also be enough.

Coetzee testified that Smith told him that the town of Saldanha would become like a Hollywood movie scene early in 2024, and people would search for "her child," but she would be nowhere to be found because she would have sent her far away.

Various police officers who testified highlighted Smith's strange behaviour after Joshlin went missing, saying she did not behave like a mother who had lost her child.

During closing arguments this week, both Judge Erasmus and State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel mentioned evidence which showed Smith dancing on a stage with popular local music group, The Temple Boys.

LOMBAARD'S TESTIMONY

Swanepoel also reminded the court about the testimony of investigating officer, Captain Wesley Lombard.

Lombard testified that he asked Smith why she did not join the search for Joshlin, to which she replied: "Why must I search for Joshlin. My child is gone."

Swanepoel told the court this was an admission that Smith knew what happened to Joshlin.

After Coetzee's testimony, the State called Lombaard to the stand to testify.

Lombaard detailed how she was a close friend with Smith and Appollis, who she would visit at their shack in Middelpos to use drugs together.

She told the court that Van Rhyn would often accompany them when they smoked meth and mandrax together.

Lombaard testified that a day before the child went missing, she overheard Smith tell Appollis about her plan to sell Joshlin to a sangoma for R20,000.

She said that later that day, she witnessed Smith take Joshlin to a woman in a white Volkswagen Polo, attired in traditional wear worn by sangomas.

Lombaard told the court that the woman gave Smith a small package and when she later questioned Smith about what she had done, Smith told her she had sold Joshlin to a sangoma.

She said Smith agreed to give her R1,000 and Van Rhyn - who was there at the time - R1,500 to keep quiet.

However, the former accused buckled under cross-examination and often refused to answer questions during her testimony.

TRIAL-WITHIN-A-TRIAL

Also pivotal to the State's case were the confession statements of Appollis and Van Rhyn.

The co-accused claimed that they were tortured by police to make the confessions before being instructed what to say in the statements.

A lengthy trial-within-a-trial ensued before Erasmus ruled the confessions statements could be used as evidence against the accused.

In the confessions, the accused stated that Smith instructed them to take Joshlin to Phumza Sigaqa, another former accused in the matter.

Sigaqa was to give Appollis R20,000 for Joshlin, but the accused claimed that when he asked her for the money, she told him another arrangement had been made with Smith.

Van Rhyn and Appollis also mentioned an unknown man with a red T-shirt being present when Joshlin was left with Sigaqa.

Van Rhyn told police that he returned to Sigaqa's home the following day to "get his cut" of R5,000, which he never received.

Charges against Sigaqa were subsequently withdrawn after police could find no evidence to prove she was involved in Joshlin's disappearance.

Swanepoel showed the court the corroboration between Coetzee and Lombaard's testimony along with the confession statements of Appollis and Van Rhyn, who all mentioned the R20,000 Joshlin was to be sold for.

Defence attorneys for the accused argued that Lombaard was a poor witness, and her testimony could not be relied on because it lacked credibility.

They also slammed the State for using Lombaard's testimony and the confession statement of Appollis and Van Rhyn as evidence against the accused, saying the two versions were different and mutually exclusive.

When Swanepoel was questioned by Erasmus about the two different versions, she responded: "It's neither here nor there whether Joshlin was put in the Polo or whether Joshlin was handed over. Joshlin was handed over. There has been an agreement for the sale of Joshlin, and she was in fact delivered, handed over."

STATE'S CASE PROVED GUILT

Before making his ruling on Friday, Erasmus said the evidence showed that Joshlin was exchanged and her freedom of movement and liberty was inhibited.

"The evidence leads, there were payments made, or at least promise of payments," said Erasmus.

The judge also mentioned the behaviour of Smith after Joshlin went missing, saying she behaved like someone who knew what happened to Joshlin.

Erasmus said the act of depriving Joshlin of her freedom of movement and liberty to the extent that her whereabouts were still unknown was unlawful.

Erasmus said he was of the view that the State succeeded in proving the guilt of Appollis, Van Rhyn and Smith for the kidnapping and human trafficking of Joshlin.

The judge said he would deal with the indemnity of Lombaard, who could still face prosecution at a later stage.

He said that more evidence could still be presented during sentencing proceedings, which could influence his decision.

"I foresee a possibility that evidence might still be led in the next phase of this case that might impact that decision," he said.

The accused are set to appear in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Friday this week for sentencing proceedings to commence.