Police fanned the still-fresh trauma of Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha on Friday when they searched again for clues in the disappearance of Joshlin Smith, but they found nothing, resident Petrus Stevens said.
Stevens said the fresh effort to find Joshlin, 7, who vanished in February last year, had reopened old wounds in the community.
Joshlin’s mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis, 33, and Steveno van Rhyn, 28, received life sentences in May for kidnapping and trafficking.
Stevens — who runs a car wash near a local cemetery — told the Sunday Times yesterday the police activity brought back memories of the previous exhaustive search for Joshlin that yielded nothing.
“I was part of the team that went searching for Joshlin,” he said. “We are still heartbroken because the child was not found, but the mother has been jailed.”
Police vans drove up and down on Friday, Stevens said. “They searched this area, close to where Joshlin and her mother lived. They didn’t find anything. Had they found anything, I would be the first to know.”
Stevens said the WhatsApp groups created at the time are still active, with residents clinging to the hope that Joshlin may still be found.
“Last week I saw Joshlin’s younger sister passing by here,” he said. “I was very emotional. I thought about Joshlin. The sister must be aged four or five. She lives with her father in the Northern Cape.”
He said there is still no closure for the community.
“We have been told that the search did not yield anything positive. Next time police search for her, they must involve the community. Maybe something positive will come out of it. This child must be found. This is a sore point.”
Joshlin’s paternal grandmother Rita Yon told the Sunday Times she knew nothing about the latest search. “I read this morning, I don't know about it,” she said.
A police statement on Friday said “emerging information” had been received. “It is worth reiterating that police have an obligation to follow up and test all information that is brought to their attention,” it said.
“Western Cape police descended on Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay on Friday afternoon, pursuing emerging information as part of the investigation into the disappearance of seven-year-old Joshlin Smith,” provincial spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa said in a statement.
“As SAPS previously stated, even though three individuals — including the mother of the child were sentenced in May 2025 for kidnapping and human trafficking, the disappearance without trace of the child remains a priority for the SAPS in the Western Cape. The investigation was never closed.”
SAPS teams led by detectives with K-9 members, search and rescue teams and local police have been scouring an identified area in Saldanha Bay. 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.”
She urged the public to allow police to work without interference.
In response to queries about the outcome of the search, Western Cape spokesperson Sgt Wesley Twiggs told Sunday Times there were no new developments and the investigation continues.
The lead in the investigation comes after National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn are appealing their conviction and sentence. The hearing will be heard at the Western Cape high court on August 12 and 13.
The court is also expected to deal with state witness Lourentia “Renz” Lombaard, a former co-accused in the case. Lombaard became a section 204 witness — a person implicated in a crime but allowed to testify truthfully against other accused in exchange for indemnity from prosecution.
The court is expected to decide with regard to indemnity and her involvement in the commission of the crimes that led to the convictions and sentences handed down.
During the trial, Lombaard’s testimony was critically scrutinised by the defence teams due to inconsistencies in her statements, bringing her credibility into question.
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