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Jacquen Appollis and Kelly Smith during the trial in the Joshlin Smith disappearance case at the White City Multipurpose Centre on 4 March 2025 in Saldanha
From poverty to parties and torture to tik, testimonies are already painting a bleak picture of the circumstances and events around the tragic disappearance of Joshlin Smith a year ago.
And now the court overseeing the trial has heard evidence of “worrying” utterances of accused and mother of the missing girl, Racquel “Kelly” Smith while the search for her daughter got underway.
Taking to the witness stand to continue his testimony Saldanha police station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Lincoln Sebola, told the court olice were searching for Joshlin on 1 March, Kelly was at the police station to provide more details to the investigating officer.
The kidnapping and human trafficking trial unfolding at the Western Cape High Court’s sitting in the Saldanha Bay Multipurpose Centre, entered its fourth day with Saldanha police station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Lincoln Sebola’s testimony.
ALSO READ: Joshlin Smith trial day 2: Mom Kelly and boyfriend reject cop’s testimony
He testified that he had been concerned when he overheard Smith’s comment to the investigating officer on 1 March while police and community members were searching for the missing six-year-old girl.
He explained that Joshlin’s mother was at the police station to provide more details around her daughter’s disappearance on 19 February 2024 from the Middelpos Informal Settlement in Diazville.
“When she came into the charge office, she was communicating with a SAPS officer whom she knew. She was acting like it’s normal that her child was not there. What concerned me was when she said in her own words: ‘My child Joshlin made me famous’. That made me worry. Especially as a parent,” Sebola testified.
This drew gasps from the public gallery and, many have said, a smile from the mother.
Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and the couple’s friend Steveno van Rhyn are charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.
They have pleaded not guilty.
READ: Joshlin Smith: Missing Saldanha girl turns 7; charges against Lombaard withdrawn [VIDEO]
On the day of her disappearance, Smith reportedly left Joshlin and her older brother, Requin, in the care of Appollis because she had an odd domestic job in Diazville.
The police officer, serving as the third witness in Joshlin’s disappearance case, also told the court on Thursday that Smith did not appear to be concerned about the whereabouts of her two other children when the extensive search operation got underway.
Sebola said the police secured accommodation for Kelly in Vredenburg before she was due to meet with then Police Minister Bheki Cele.
“She didn’t like it [the accommodation] because her boyfriend could not go with her. We then got her accommodation in Diazville, from a member of the community, where she could stay with her boyfriend.
“We had to have members stationed outside for safety because the community was angry,” he explained.
When asked about Kelly’s other children, Sebola said: “The children were not with her. She never asked for accommodation for her children.”
Judge Nathan Erasmus sought clarity and asked: ‘So, there was no concern or request to give her other two kids (aged 11 and two) with her but her boyfriend?”
Sebola responded: “Correct”.
Joshlin’s two siblings, her brother aged 10 and three-year-old sister, are currently in the care of family members.
On Thursday afternoon, the accused trio – along with the prosecution, defence and media – were escorted by a police convoy on an in loco inspection to Middelpos with their feet shackled.
During previous court proceedings this week, Appollis and Van Rhyn made the shock claims in their plea explanations that they were tortured into making forced confessions by police during their interrogation on 4 and 5 March.
During their first appearance at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court in March 2024, the State alleged that Appollis and Van Rhyn confessed that Smith instructed them to sell Joshlin for R20 000 for muti.
ALSO READ: Muti murders in SA: Has Joslin Smith fallen prey to ‘occult economy’?
In her plea explanation, Smith confessed to smoking tik (crystal meth) several times on the day of Joshlin’s disappearance.
NOW READ: Joshlin Smith: Did ticking time bomb of tik push Mom Kelly over the edge?
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