Joshlin Smith trial: Lombaard struggles to defend changing testimony

Rinesh Sivnarain, lawyer for Kelly Smith, the mother of missing Joshlin, started his cross-examination of Lourentia (Rens) Lombaard, in the high-profile Joshlin Smith abduction case on Wednesday.

Lombaard, a friend of Smith’s, was previously arrested and accused of the kidnapping and human trafficking of Joshlin. The case is being heard in the Western Cape Circuit High Court in Saldanha.

The then-six-year-old Joshlin disappeared from her family’s home in Middelpos on 19 February 2024. Lombaard told the court that Smith sold Joshlin to a sangoma for R20 000 and that she was promised R1 000 to remain quiet.

Lombaard acknowledges doubts over initial statement

Sivnirain questioned Lombaard on her drug use on the Sunday before Joshlin went missing. She said she asked her boyfriend, Ayanda Letoni, for R30 or R60 to buy Tik in the morning. According to Lombaard, he then went to his car wash and brought the money later on. She said she then bought Tik and smoked it alone. The next day, Lombaard said she smoked Tik and Mandrax at Smith’s house with Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn.

The lawyer then put it to Lombaard that her initial statement, when she was incarcerated in March 2024, could not be relied upon. Lombaard previously stated that she didn’t trust the person who recorded her statement, that she was also under the influence of drugs, and that she was scared because she didn’t know the person.

He then asked if Lombaard asked to make a statement, after which the person came to her. He also wanted to know if she knew why this person came to her. “That’s correct,” Lombaard said.

Sivnirain then stated that she previously told the court that she didn’t know why this person came to her. Lombaard said that she knew and that she asked to make a statement.

She added that she was not comfortable with the person taking her statement because it was her first time making a police statement, and she felt nervous.

Sivnirain wanted to know if she had more than three opportunities to speak the truth. She responded that she had several opportunities.

Witness admits promised bribe kept her silent

Judge Nathan Erasmus asked Lombaard if the R1 000 she was promised by Smith to keep quiet played a role in her not telling the truth from the start. She confirmed that it did. “We were not supposed to tell anyone about Joshlin,” she said.

However, she noted that she told Kelly to tell the police “what she had done with the child” within hearing range of police officers.

Smith, Appollis, and Van Rhyn are accused of the kidnapping and human trafficking of Joshlin.

The cross-examination continues.

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