
Joslin's mother rolls eyes amid possibility of 'maximum sentence'
Joslin Smith's mother, Kelly Smith, was seen smirking and even rolling her eyes in the Western Cape High Court amid sentencing proceedings relating to her guilty verdict for kidnapping and trafficking.
Kelly is accused of being the 'mastermind' behind the disappearance of her daughter last year. She is believed to have sold her child for R20 000 to fuel her drug habit.
Last Friday, Kelly Smith and her co-accused, boyfriend Jacquin 'Boeta' Apollis and pal Steven van Rhyn, appeared in the Western Cape High Court.
The trio was found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking Joslin Smith, with her mother, Kelly, reportedly being the 'mastermind' behind the deal.
In a clip posted on social media, Kelly was all smiles with her co-accused and members of the gallery. She then rolled her eyes when asked a question. @justice_forthe_voiceless #SAMA28 #southafrica #tiktoksouthafrica #fyp #southafricatiktok #foryou #foryoupage #missing #missingchildren #joslin #joslinsmith #joslinupdate #kellysmith #kelly #boeta #stevano #sama28tiktok🇿🇦 ♬ Suspenseful – Oleg Kashchenko
Kelly's theatrical behaviour comes amid the accused's sentencing, which will take place at the Multipurpose Centre in Diazville in Saldanha.
Their hearings are scheduled for this week, and the sentence will be handed down on Thursday, 29 May. Kelly Smith's mother hopes her daughter will reveal the location of Joslin Smith.
Images via YouTube screenshot: SABC News
Meanwhile, a criminal defence attorney believes that Judge Nathan Erasmus may possibly hand down a harsh sentence, given the lack of remorse shown by Joslin Smith's mother, Kelly Smith.
William Booth told EWN: 'So, the fact that the child has not been recovered, either a body or found, if she is still alive, is an aspect that I believe could be regarded as aggravating. The State will present evidence requesting the maximum sentence to be imposed.'
Pressure is also mounting for Kelly to shed light on the whereabouts of her missing daughter.
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 .
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
SIU freezes over R20M in assets linked to Transnet contracts
SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago JOHANNESBURG - The Special Investigating Unit, working in collaboration with Transnet, has secured a preservation order to freeze more than R20-million worth of assets believed to be linked to irregular property valuation contracts. Awarded between 2019 and 2022 the contracts are worth a combined R89-million. The frozen assets include luxury vehicles such as Porsches and a Mercedes, as well as high-value properties in Johannesburg and Vanderbijlpark.


eNCA
11 hours ago
- eNCA
Prosecutors' pyrrhic victory with Joshlin still missing
CAPE TOWN - It's been just over a week since Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno Van Rhyn were sentenced to life behind bars for the kidnapping and trafficking of Joshlin Smith. The little girl was reported missing on 19 February last year. She has still not been found. This marked a test case in South Africa as the state had no victim to present to court. eNCA reporter Ayesha Ismail sat down with the two prosecutors who secured the three convictions. This as lawyers for some of those convicted, indicate they'll be appealing the sentence. Different criteria are used when deciding on allocating a specific case to a prosecutor. As the National Prosecuting Authorities head for trafficking in persons in the Western Cape, Advocate Zelda Swanepoel was the obvious choice for the Joshlin Smith case. Swanepoel needed a strong team to help her crack this case and included Advocate Heeramun during the trial. Swanepoel said, "H ow Advocate Heeramun became involved because at the time I was her advisor we are in the organised component of the DPPs office and it was the logical choice to include her as part of the team she has dealt with high profile cases in the past and I believed we could make a good team and we brought different virtues and capabilities to the team.' The two prosecutors understood the challenges of not having a victim to testify. Swanepoel explained, "It was the first time that we used trafficking in persons, where a child was sold and had not yet been recovered. There were three other previous reported cases, two in the High Court in Pretoria and one in Pietermartizburg.' Those three cases involved traps or undercover operations. Police were notified of a transaction taking place. A police agent negotiated the sale and the accused were arrested the minute the child was handed over. This was the first case where there was no victim or body to present to court. The focus had to be on the sale of the child. Heermun said, 'We then had to decide on the credibility, on the admissibility, and how to best present it in court." "You have to anticipate every possible angle the defence might come at your case and prepare in fact and in law for those arguments.' Balancing the evidence and the emotions wasn't always easy. VIZ@ the two prosecutors in court Swanepoel says trafficking in persons is the most challenging case to prove in court due to the vulnerability of the victims. She says prosecutors have to be strong for their victims. So, was Joshlin sold to a sangoma by her mother for R20,000 or was she taken to a woman called Ma Kalima by Jacquen Appolis and Steveno Van Rhyn on Kelly Smith's instructions? Swanepoel said, "Our argument is it's irrelevant to whom Joshlin was delivered because that is in fact the only contentious part in the evidence." "It was however, and this is the evidence that the court accepted, that there was an agreement, there was a plan to sell Joshlin, there was an agreement to sell Joshlin, there was even an agreement on the price. All four of the parties, and I include Miss Lombaard, all four of the parties agreed to the selling of Joshlin. All agreed to the benefit they were going to get and the roles they were going to play and that is what the court found .'


The Citizen
11 hours ago
- The Citizen
Faceboook is buzzing after post of person allegedly wrapped up in the boot of a car in eMalahleni
Less than a minute Zita Goldswain Less than a minute Faceboook is buzzing after post of person allegedly wrapped up in the boot of a car in eMalahleni A man posted a warning on Facebook page earlier today about a suspicious brown VW Tiguan. The post stated that a person was allegedly wrapped up inside the boot of the vehicle at Saveways Crescent. WITBANK NEWS reached out to the centre management and they said their security notified them of suspicious behaviour from the vehicle. 'The vehicle was approached to investigate and it then sped off .' The centre's security manager reported the matter to is a developing story. Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS on our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok Chat to us: info@ At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!