Joshlin Smith seven months on: Case postponed as new evidence emerges [VIDEO]

In yet another postponement for further investigation, the sensational trial for Joshlin Smith’s disappearance case has been remanded to the Western Cape High Court by Magistrate Theresa Postma.

This after the State indicated that it needed more time for further investigation as new information had allegedly come to light.

Postma, however, made it clear that this will be the final postponement.

Joshlin Smith: Tragic case of missing Saldanha girl

The Grade 1 Diazville Primary School pupil vanished nearly seven months ago from the Middelpos Informal Settlement, near Saldanha Bay, on 19 February 2024.

Since then, an extensive search operation − which has extended as far as the United Kingdom (UK) alongside Interpol − was launched to locate the six-year-old girl. 

WATCH: Mom Kelly and co-accused back in the dock

Her mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and the couple’s friends Steveno van Rhyn and Lourentia “Renze” Lombaard were arrested and charged with human trafficking and kidnapping in March this year.

A heavily pregnant Smith – dressed in a floral high-collared shirt and a black puffer jacket – briefly appeared in the dock alongside her co-accused at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning, 16 September.

They were handed an indictment and summary of facts before Postma transferred the matter to the Western Cape High Court where the trial is set to continue on 21 October 2024.

When the four accused were last in the dock on 15 July, the State also requested more time to investigate the matter.

Smith and Lombaard have been remanded in custody at Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison and Appollis and Van Rhyn at Malmesbury Correctional Services.

Timeline: What happened to Joshlin Smith?

The 33-year-old Smith, who confessed to being a tik (crystal meth) user, left her daughter – who she claims was unwell – in the care of Appollis when she went to do an odd domestic job on that fateful Monday morning.

On her return to the couple’s residence at about 5 pm, Joshlin was missing.

Appollis denies any involvement in her disappearance. He claims that the last time he saw her was when she went to play outside.

ALSO READ: Joshlin Smith: Did ticking time bomb of tik push Mom Kelly over the edge?

Joshlin Smith trial so far

• During Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn’s first court appearance on 7 March, Senior Advocate Aradhana Heeramun, who appeared for the State, alleged that Smith instructed Appollis and Van Rhyn to sell Joshlin to another Middelpos man for R20 000 for traditional medicine.

The two men apparently made this confession after a 36-hour interrogation at Saldanha Police Station.

• At Lombaard’s bail appearance on 18 March, state prosecutor Jacques van Zyl revealed in court that she made a confession before her arrest.

However, no further details of what had been confessed were provided.

Agonising wait for answers continues

The previous postponements of the trial were motivated by the fact that investigators still needed to obtain witness statements and conduct data analysis on the accused’s cellphones.

Police were also waiting for the results of the DNA analysis of bloodstained clothes, a knife and a sheet found in an open field about a kilometre away from Joshlin’s home on 2 March.

No sign of little Joshlin

There has been no new information on the whereabouts of the green-eyed girl. A small group of Saldanha Bay residents are however still searching for Joshlin.

• Anyone with information on Joshlin’s whereabouts can anonymously contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111, or SMS Crime Line on 32211.

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