‘I knew I just met a suspect’ – Gayton McKenzie on meeting Joshlin’s mother

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has alleged that Kelly Smith, the mother of missing Saldanha Bay girl Joshlin Smith, planned to run before her arrest.

McKenzie was one of the politicians actively involved in the search for the six-year-old, offering support for the family in the hopes of finding Joshlin.

The exercise proved futile.

ALSO READ: Joshlin’s aunt testifies: Kelly said someone wanted to sell her child

Following the little girl’s disappearance in February last year, McKenzie and his party held a prayer meeting for the family. However, McKenzie said he was unsettled by Smith’s behaviour.

‘When I met her …’

The PA leader said the first time he met Smith, he immediately suspected that she allegedly knew more about her daughter’s disappearance.

“When I met Kelly [Smith], I couldn’t sleep because I knew I had just met a suspect,” McKenzie alleged in a recent Facebook post.

“Long story short, the day that we had a church service for Joshlin, Kelly danced like crazy, and we picked up that these people are planning to run. Bags were packed and they had transport to visit the family. I told her that I’m planning to take her shopping and give her more money. I told her that we will go early and I will book her in the guesthouse. My team took her elsewhere to another hotel because she was on the phone again with someone.

“We guarded her the whole night and I was told they kept opening the curtain to see who of what is outside. The cops called us the next day inquiring about their whereabouts, we gave them the hotel room number and they were arrested.”

ALSO READ: I tried to stop Kelly, but she wouldn’t listen

Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie could not confirm McKenzie’s claims as the case against the accused was on trial.

“We cannot confirm or deny anything concerning this as the case is on trial. Any comment will jeopardise the investigations into the case,” Pojie told The Citizen on Tuesday.

Joshlin Smith’s disappearance

Joshlin disappeared from the family’s home in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024.

Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and his friend Stevano van Rhyn have since been arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Shocking testimonies have been heard in the Western Cape Circuit High Court in Saldanha, where the trial is being heard.

ALSO READ: Joshlin Smith’s mother allegedly plotted to sell her months before disappearance

Smith’s sister, Michaela Daniels, testified that Joshlin’s mother previously told her that someone wanted to sell her child.

According to Daniels, on 26 February at 12:55pm, she called Smith on WhatsApp and asked where Joshlin was. “She said my sister, Joshlin is here in the informal settlement. Someone wants to sell my child, but Saldanha is currently ‘too heated’”.

The court also heard that the first time Daniels called Smith, she was in a state and said that Joshlin had not been found.

“However, the second time I called her, she was happy and laughed. She told me that Gayton McKenzie had bought clothes for Requen and Rachelle. The more I asked her about Joshlin, the more she spoke about the clothes.”

ALSO READ: Joshlin Smith trial: Court told missing girl was sold to sangoma for R20 000

Last week, Lourentia (Rens) Lombaard, a friend of Kelly Smith, told the court Joshlin was sold to a sangoma.

According to Lombaard, Smith then told her: “Rens, I did something sh*t now. I sold my child to a sangoma. I needed money, and I’m suffering.”

Additional reporting by Carien Grobler