Joslin Smith latest: The Saldanha sangoma and new beach evidence probed

Startling new developments increasingly piece together the tragedy surrounding the disappearance of six-year-old Saldanha girl, Joslin Smith, which has gripped the nation and made international headlines.

This amid media reports that two suspects in police custody allegedly confessed on Tuesday evening to selling the Grade 1 Diazville Primary School pupil for muti.

Joslin Smith: Man she was allegedly sold to also in custody

Their alleged confession of selling Joslin to a Middelpos man for R20,000 reportedly surfaced during a marathon 36-hour-long interrogation at the Saldanha Police Station.

The man to whom they allegedly sold Joslin, has been in police custody since Sunday.

ALSO READ: Two men claim in grim confession they sold Joslin Smith for muti

Netwerk24 reported that his girlfriend was also taken in for questioning on Tuesday.

Suspects to appear in court on Thursday

On Wednesday morning, Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa confirmed that two men and two women, aged between 26 and 34, have been taken in for questioning.

“With the investigation gaining momentum, arrests are on the cards,” Potelwa added.

The four individuals will appear in the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 7 March.

The spokesperson, however, said that she does not know for certain how many people will actually make their appearance.

ALSO READ: Mutilated Soweto boys laid to rest, grandmother and partner charged

Maroela Media revealed that Western Cape police commissioner Major-General Thembisile Patekile and the MEC of police oversight and community safety Reagan Allen would attend the court proceedings.

Saldanha sangoma believed to be key to whereabouts of Joslin

It has now been reported that a female sangoma from the Middelpos informal settlement where Joslin lived with her mother, Kelly Smith, her two siblings and her mother’s boyfriend, Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis, has been one of six people interrogated by the police since the weekend.

According to Netwerk24, several sources on the West Coast claim the sangoma could be the key to unlocking the whereabouts of the blonde, green-eyed girl.

The day Joslin disappeared…

• The young girl went missing on 19 February while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend.
• Kelly claims she left Joslin with Appollis because she had to go to work and her daughter was not feeling well.
• However, when she came home that evening, neither one of the two was in their hut. On his return later, Appollis could not account for Joslin’s whereabouts.
• In an eNCA interview, he, however, contradicted Kelly’s version with his claim that he was “home all day” and that the child went to play at another house.

ALSO READ: Polygraph tests and chilling confessions: ‘Kelly would never sell Joslin for money’

Renewed search launched

Meanwhile, the Saldanha Bay community has launched a renewed search for Joslin along Tabak Bay beach on Wednesday.

According to SABC News, Vernon Vraagom, a community member, was leading the search.

Vraagom explained that they decided to search for her on the beach after a blue flip flop was found.

“There’s a story of a blue plakkie that was found and a week or two ago, there was no mention of the blue plakkie. So that’s why we have decided now to go to that part of the beach.”

On the day of her disappearance, Joslin was wearing a light blue T-shirt and light blue denim shorts.

Bloodstained clothing, knives found

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie confirmed on Sunday that bloodstained clothing, a sheet and a knife had been found late on Saturday evening in an open field about a kilometre away from Joslin’s hut.

According to Daily Maverick, a source claimed that forensic tests on the bloodstained clothes revealed that it belonged to Joslin.

Another knife was found planted in the ground in the area on Monday. It is, however, not yet clear whether the knife is connected to the case.

ALSO READ: Police urge responsible social media usage as search for Joslin Smith intensifies