The case of Joshlin Smith, a six-year-old girl who went missing in February 2024, has gripped South Africa and garnered international attention. Her disappearance led to a large-scale investigation and a harrowing court case, ultimately resulting in the conviction and sentencing of her mother and two accomplices.
The Disappearance and Initial Investigation
Joshlin Smith mysteriously vanished in February 2024 from her home in Saldanha Bay, a fishing town 85 miles north of Cape Town. Smith, the mother, said she asked her boyfriend to look after Joshlin when the young girl felt unwell and didn’t go to school on the day she disappeared. Joslin Smith went missing on Feb. A massive nationwide search operation was launched, with police, firefighters, and specialized K-9 dog units scouring sand dunes and scrubland near the informal settlement where Joshlin lived. Search teams have used drones to view large areas of ground, police said, and personnel from a South African navy base in Saldanha Bay have now bolstered the operation.
Community members also joined the police in days of searches for the girl around their area. Some of them claimed this weekend to have found a knife and girl's clothing stained with blood, which they said they handed over to the police. Police said they had sent items found during the search to a laboratory for forensic examination but didn't give further details. They pleaded with the public to “desist from recording the searches” as interest in the case spiked following news that bloodied clothing had been found. People taking photos and videos of officers working “may adversely impact the investigation,” police spokesperson Brig.
Police Minister Bheki Cele met with Joslin's family on Saturday and pleaded for calm among local residents after anger erupted over the young girl's disappearance. “Everybody sees something. Whether it's stuck in your mind and you forget about it and later you remember. But somebody must have seen her somewhere. People say that she just vanished. No, people do not just vanish,” said Theresa le Roux, a local government official.
Despite extensive efforts, Joshlin has still not been found.
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Arrests, Trial, and Sentencing
The investigation took a dramatic turn when prosecutors alleged that Smith sold her daughter to a traditional healer, who was interested in her eyes and fair complexion. Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their friend, Steveno van Rhyn, were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking Joshlin Smith, who disappeared from her home in a small township in the Western Cape in February 2024.
The two-month trial heard statements from various witnesses that Smith had revealed to them that she had sold her daughter, including claims she was paid 20,000 rand ($1,085). During the trial, a witness said Smith had told her she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, a traditional healer, for 20,000 rand (£830) and that the girl had been desired for her “eyes and skin”. Another witness, a pastor, said Smith told him in 2023 that she planned to sell her daughter.
On Thursday, a South African court sentenced Smith to life in prison for kidnapping and selling her six-year-old daughter, in a case that horrified the country. Her mother, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, was found guilty of kidnapping and selling the young girl, reportedly for 20,000 rand ($1,100). Judge Nathan Erasmus ruled that Smith, 35, and her two co-accused -- a boyfriend and mutual friend -- also be jailed for life for human trafficking. They were all sentenced to a concurrent 10 years imprisonment for kidnapping. "I am also ordering the entry of your names to the child protection register," Erasmus ruled.
“There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,” the high court judge Nathan Erasmus said. Erasmus also imposed a 10-year kidnapping sentence on the three, to run concurrently with the life sentence for human trafficking, and ordered their names be entered into the child protection register. The judge said the mother of three was manipulative and had shown "no indication of remorse" or concern over Joshlin's disappearance. The verdict drew cheers in the courtroom.
Erasmus said the fact Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn were drug users was no excuse and described Smith as “a person who is manipulative and manipulates the facts as it suits you”. “[You] went as far as to blame your parents for your conduct in this matter,” the judge said during the sentencing in Saldanha Bay, a fishing town 85 miles north of Cape Town. “The evidence presented as to the disappearance of your own daughter was clear. Besides on one occasion earlier and yesterday, I saw no indication of remorse, but it didn’t start there because we know from 19 February 2024 the lack of concern.”
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Smith was initially a figure of sympathy when her child disappeared, sparking a massive nationwide search operation. Photos showing Joshlin's striking green eyes, broad smile and brown pigtails flooded the internet. The case drew national attention, including from a minister who offered a one-million-rand ($54,000) reward for her safe return.
| Name | Role | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Racquel “Kelly” Smith | Mother | Life imprisonment for human trafficking, 10 years for kidnapping (concurrent) |
| Jacquen Appollis | Boyfriend | Life imprisonment for human trafficking, 10 years for kidnapping (concurrent) |
| Steveno van Rhyn | Friend | Life imprisonment for human trafficking, 10 years for kidnapping (concurrent) |
Impact on the Family and Community
Smith’s mother, Amanda Daniels, was present at the sentencing, wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with a photograph of Joshlin’s face. The day before, a court officer read out a victim impact statement on her behalf, describing how she had “cried my eyes out” on Mother’s Day earlier in May. Daniels’ statement said: “Kelly, you have made our lives hell on earth. I feel like my heart has been ripped from my body. You have broken [this family] apart.”
Daniels is now caring for Smith’s two other children, of whom Joshlin was the middle child, and said she was constantly afraid they would go missing too. A member of the public wears a T-shirt with a picture of the missing child, Joshlin Smith, on it in court.
Public support was strong, with many locals joining the police in the search efforts. The Missing Children South Africa charity, which is helping in the search for Joshlin, says police statistics indicate a child goes missing every five hours in the country.
Police in South Africa are pursuing new leads in the case of a missing girl, Joshlin Smith, whose mother was sentenced to life in prison in May for kidnapping and trafficking the six-year-old girl. Search and rescue teams on Friday combed through an informal settlement in Saldanha Bay as part of the investigation into the girl’s disappearance, police in Western Cape Province said on Saturday. “Whether the ongoing search will yield any success remains to be seen. It is worth reiterating that police have an obligation to follow up and test all information that is brought to their attention,” Western Cape police said in a statement on Saturday.
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Police said an investigation into the case was never closed despite the sentencing of suspects and urged that the “search teams be afforded space to perform their duties”. South Africa police said they had extended the search for Joshlin outside the country.
South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world and the kidnapping of children is on the rise. There were more than 17,000 kidnappings in South Africa in the 2023/2024 financial year, an 11 percent increase over the previous year, according to police statistics. The data doesn't specify the ages of the victims.
Joshlin Smith | State asks for life for Kelly Smith and others
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