It was a random encounter with an evangelist on a chilly August morning that helped seal the fate of Racquel “Kelly” Smith, who faces the prospect of life in prison for selling her child “like a commodity”.
“It is going to be a movie scene, cars are going to come, and people are going to search and find nothing, as the child will be far away,” Smith told Nico Coetzee when their paths crossed at Middelpos informal settlement on that morning in August 2023 and the conversation turned to her children.
Six months later, a huge police contingent and the navy descended on Saldanha Bay to search for her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin. Smith, a domestic worker and drug user, was notably absent from the ranks of the search parties.
It was a crime that outraged the nation, but an unconventional trial helped heal its wounds, with justice served by the high court sitting in a multipurpose centre in the heart of the grief-stricken community who searched tirelessly for the green-eyed girl.
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile confirmed the investigation into her whereabouts — which included a fruitless three-day search of a ship — was ongoing.
“It is not what I wanted, because my grandchild is still missing, I don’t know where my grandchild is,” said Smith’s mother, Amanda Daniels Smith, who was in court on Friday for the first time during the eight-week-long trial. “I just want my grandchild back. It does not matter how long they are going to sit in jail.”
Coetzee and Smith met at a memorial service in 2016 and found they had something in common — they both hailed from Springbok in the Northern Cape.
Coetzee testified that in the course of his conversation with Smith she spoke of living with a bad family, saying her children were going to be taken away. She said if they came this time and did “not have the full amount of R20,000”, she would be “satisfied with R5,000”.
Coetzee’s testimony corroborated that of former co-accused turned state witness Laurentia Lombaard, who overheard Smith and her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis discussing a plan to sell Joshlin the day before she disappeared. Lombaard testified her former friend spoke of selling Joshlin to a sangoma for R20,000.
That and the evidence of 30 other state witnesses, as well as the accused electing not to testify in their defence, persuaded judge Nathan Erasmus the trio were guilty.
The sentence doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that Joshlin is not with us
— Rita Yon, Joshlin’s grandmother
It was a verdict that reduced Smith to tears, the words of the judge acting as hammer blows. He said her daughter had been “exchanged” and “sold like a commodity”, akin to slavery.
“On the main count, I found that on evidence before me Joshlin was exchanged,” said the judge. “The fact is that her freedom of movement and liberty [were] inhibited, [and those are] the main elements of kidnapping ... There were promises of payments.
“The state succeeded in proving the guilt of Appollis, Van Rhyn and Smith on human trafficking and kidnapping.” A human trafficking conviction carries a life sentence.
There was jubilation and applause from the public gallery. Deputy provincial director of public prosecutions advocate Zelda Swanepoel and senior state advocate Aradhana Heeramun were presented with flowers by the community.
Vredenburg resident Rina Jordaan said, “They did their work very well, and we are proud. Justice was served, but we want Joshlin back and will keep searching.”
Smith, Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn pleaded not guilty, denying they “sold, delivered or exchanged” the grade 1 pupil for money.
Joshlin’s biological father, Jose Emke, was not in court on Friday, but his mother, Rita Yon, said: “The sentence doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that Joshlin is not with us ... When I went to visit Kelly at Pollsmoor, I asked her where Joshlin was. She said she did not know.
“The prosecutors argued that the three accused devised a plan to sell Joshlin for their own benefit,” explained National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
“Van Rhyn was promised R1,200 and Lombaard was to receive R1,000, and the rest of the money was to be shared between Appollis and Smith. Lombaard and Van Rhyn were to be paid for their silence. They further argued the child was sold and delivered to the intended buyer for the purpose of exploitation for slavery or practices like slavery.”
“The two seasoned prosecutors argued that this was a test case of utmost jurisprudential importance, as the matter was the first prosecution where the victim, in this case a child, had been sold and still not been found,” he added.
Western Cape director of public prosecutions advocate Nicolette Bell said the “case saw the largest number of resources put together from the police, the City of Cape Town, the navy and the community of Saldanha in the search for Joshlin”. She added, “The NPA salutes those who were involved in these efforts, and I want to appeal to them that our responsibility is not over as long as Joshlin Smith remains missing.”
Judge Erasmus paid tribute to a group of mothers who prayed daily outside court and said, “The community of Saldanha came [to court] at times in numbers. I haven’t seen people so disciplined.”
However, hours after the landmark judgment was handed down, the shack in Middelpos where Smith, her boyfriend and three children once lived was reduced to ashes in what police suspect to be a case of arson.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Malcolm Pojie said a woman had been taken in for questioning.
The case was postponed to May 9, when sentencing will get under way.
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