They could have lived normal lives but chose to walk a path of drug abuse, manipulation, deception and greed, and ultimately betrayed a defenceless child.
That path on Friday led Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis, 33, and Steveno van Rhyn, 28, to a maximum-security prison to serve life sentences for the kidnapping and trafficking of Kelly’s six-year-old daughter Joshlin.
Smith embarked on the journey to prison carrying a big red bag emblazoned: “Making you happy makes us happy.”
It marked the end of an eight-week trial that revealed how the trio planned to sell the green-eyed grade 1 pupil with fair skin to a sangoma for R20,000 at the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay in February last year. A missing person case is still open.
“I attended the trial since it started,” said local resident Wilma de Bruin, who took part in the extensive searches for Joshlin, tears welling in her eyes. “It was excruciating. We are not satisfied with the life sentence. They are supposed to get harsher sentences. They must not see the light!”
De Bruin and Smith grew up in the West Coast community.
“We think Kelly sold the child. I think she dragged the two men ... into the situation. She was very protective of her boyfriend during the trial. They sometimes communicated in sign language. That is why we think the three of them worked together.”
We think Kelly gave away the child under a drug spell and only realised later what she had done
De Bruin said some residents believed Smith was still getting money for trafficking Joshlin. “You could see her demeanour in court. She did not look worried.”
She said the community would resume the search for Joshlin.
“We cannot rest until we know what happened to Joshlin. No-one in this community has had a good sleep since that child went missing. We think Kelly gave away the child under a drug spell and only realised later what she had done. The community just wants Kelly to remember who she had a conversation with when this transaction happened.”
De Bruin said drugs and poverty plaguing the community made its children vulnerable to crime.
“Joshlin was targeted because she is the child of a drug addict,” she said. “Kelly dragged that child around when she went begging for food. Joshlin went through a lot.”
The shack where Smith and Appollis and her children lived was torched after their conviction. Only a pile of charred household items this week hinted that people had lived there once. A stench of sewage hung in the air. Plastic littered open spaces.
Despite evidence they conspired to sell Joshlin, the trio pleaded not guilty and continued to profess their innocence.
Judge Nathan Erasmus found no personal circumstances to justify a lighter sentence and imposed life imprisonment for human trafficking, along with 10 years each for kidnapping.
The probation officer’s report, read out before sentencing, said Smith — a mother of three — had “fabricated” claims she was “rejected by her biological parents” and had been a teen victim of sexual abuse. Smith’s drug habit, it noted, started with dagga as an adolescent and escalated to crystal meth (tik) over a period of 20 years.
“The probation officer cannot find any redeeming qualities in Racquel Smith,” read the report. “Her primary concern during the interview with her was for herself, attempting to convince the court to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence.
“Several [additional] aggravating factors ... must be taken into account: Racquel Smith’s coercion of others in carrying out the offence; abusing her child’s vulnerability; using deception, abusing her power and not least of which, receiving payment.”
Appollis told the probation officer he smoked tik on the day Joshlin disappeared. He has two pending cases of theft and violation of the Marine Resources Act. However, the probation officer described him as a “respectable individual who is considerate of others”.
“Had it not been for his addiction to drugs, he would have lived his life in a stable, law-abiding manner. It is, however, deeply perplexing that he remains resolute in the professing of his innocence, despite the court finding to the contrary,” the report reads.
Van Rhyn had a “long list of offences to his name”. He is awaiting trial for murder, malicious damage to property, housebreaking and possession of a dangerous weapon. He has previous convictions for robbery, housebreaking and violation of the Drug Trafficking Act.
“Leniency is further thwarted by his complete lack of remorse, in fact upon questioning, he callously stated that he does not care what happened to Joshlin Smith,” said the report. The probation officer described him as a “menace to society”.
Smith’s mother, Amanda Smith-Daniels, said the case had wrecked her life.
“My love for my child won’t go away. I am still her mother,” she said after sentencing. “I will be there for my grandchildren, and I will raise them. [Kelly] is not my only child. I have four children, in fact, three now — the fourth has passed away. I am a total wreck. I am depressed.”
Smith-Daniels rebuked her daughter in a letter read in court, in which she said Kelly had made life “hell on earth” for the family.
She vowed not to rest until Joshlin was found and at one stage had wanted to adopt her. The court also heard the family of Natasha Andrews, who had often cared for and fed Joshlin, had wanted to adopt her but Smith would not allow it.
Andrews described the sentence as cold comfort because she was still “searching for answers”.
“Whenever I lie in bed or brush my teeth, I think about Joshlin,” she said. “I have a lot of questions for Kelly. Whether I will get the answers, I do not know. I hope with my whole heart that Joshlin is still alive.”
Tasneem Khan, from Cape Town, spent Wednesday night outside the Saldanha multipurpose centre, where the trial was held. She wore a red T-shirt and a beanie with pictures of Joshlin.
“It is heartbreaking to see that a mother would sell a child,” she said.
“I would never give away my child. I am satisfied with the judgment, but we don’t know where the child is. If Kelly can do it to her child, she can do it to our children.”
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