Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial: Judge surprised at accused’s admission

The first accused in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial has admitted to lying under oath about the details surrounding the child’s disappearance.

The trial involving Joshlin’s mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, and her co-accused, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, entered its seventh week on Tuesday at the Western Cape High Court, which is currently sitting in Saldanha Bay.

Proceedings are taking place at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Diazville.

The trio face charges of human trafficking and kidnapping following the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin on 19 February 2024 from the Middelpos informal settlement.

All three have pleaded not guilty.

Confessions scrutinised in Joshlin Smith trial

On Tuesday, Appollis returned to the witness stand for his cross-examination in a trial-within-a-trial.

The inquiry was initiated after both Appollis and Van Rhyn claimed that they were assaulted and coerced by police into making confession statements on 5 March 2024 regarding Joshlin’s disappearance.

State prosecutor Aradhana Heeramun questioned the accused about his assault claims.

Appollis alleged that the police officers who beat him up had threatened him not to reveal the real cause of his injuries after he was taken to a hospital for a medical examination.

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Heeramun asked why this allegation had not been raised during Warrant Officer Heinrich Schmidlin’s testimony.

Judge Nathan Erasmus stepped in after Appollis appeared confused by the line of questioning, and asked him directly why he had not informed his legal representative of the allegation during Schmidlin’s cross-examination.

“Why did you not tell Mr [Fanie] Harmse?” Erasmus asked.

In response, Appollis said he only realised during his own testimony that the matter had not been raised.

Accused admits to lying

Appollis also did not deny that his claim about injuring his ankle by jumping out of a police van was untrue.

He had previously admitted during his evidence-in-chief on Friday that he had fabricated the cause of his injuries out of fear.

“I did tell my attorney that I just made it up,” Appollis said.

When Heeramun questioned why this was also not raised during the cross-examination of Colonel Adrian Pretorius, she indicated that the state would argue that Appollis was lying about the alleged fabrications in his confession statement.

Despite this, Appollis insisted that he had disclosed the full version of events, including the fabricated elements of his confession, to his lawyer – even though this was never presented to any of the state witnesses.

READ MORE: Joshlin Smith trial: Cop and defence disagree on accused’s condition during questioning

He further revealed that he also made up the claim in his confession that Joshlin had been sold to a sangoma for R20 000.

This revelation caught the judge by surprise, as Appollis had previously testified that the part of the statement concerning the sangoma was true.

Erasmus: “You have backtracked on that story. You have admitted that you lied to me about this statement, but would you agree with the prosecutor that you made up a very good story because it sounds very true?”

Appollis: “I understand it’s not the truth, my Lord.”

Erasmus: “You were very good at school in writing compositions?”

Appollis: “No, not very well, my Lord.”

Erasmus: “So where does this sudden talent come from?”

The trial-within-a-trial will continue on Wednesday, with the judge expected to rule on the admissibility of the confession statements in the main trial on Thursday.