Vehicle used in brutal child murder forfeited to state
The Western Cape High Court has ordered the forfeiture of the vehicle used by Daniel Hugo Smit to brutally kidnap and murder 13-year-old Jerobejin Van Wyk in February 2022.
On Thursday, Judge James Dumisani Lekhuleni granted the unopposed forfeiture order for Smit's vehicle at the High Court sitting at Vredenburg Magistrate's Court.
The vehicle was used to pursue Van Wyk, knock him over, and kidnap him before brutally murdering him.
Car used to kidnap and murder Van Wyk forfeited
The order was granted after the Asset Forfeiture Unit's (AFU) decision to apply for preservation and a forfeiture order.
The AFU submitted the application because it believed Smit had used the vehicle as an instrument to commit the offences for which he was convicted and sentenced on 5 November 2024.
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The court sentenced Smit to effective life imprisonment following his conviction on attempted murder, kidnapping, murder, violation of a corpse, and defeating the administration of justice.
The court sentenced him to 15 years' direct imprisonment for attempted murder, 10 years' direct imprisonment for kidnapping, life imprisonment for murder, five years' direct imprisonment for violating a corpse, and three years' direct imprisonment for defeating the administration of justice.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said that during the trial, AFU successfully applied for a preservation order, and Judge Hayley Slingers granted it on 19 March 2025.
Car was instrumental in Smit's crimes
'In its application, the unit argued that Smit used the vehicle to pursue the deceased, knock him over, kidnap and murder him, and that it was an instrumentality of the offences listed in items 1, 3, and 7 of Schedule 1 of POCA (Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998), that being murder, kidnapping, assault, and child stealing,' Ntabazalila said.
AFU had ninety days to submit a forfeiture application in accordance with POCA Section 40, after which the preservation order would expire.
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Judge Lekhuleni granted the order unopposed on Thursday. Officials served the application on Smit in prison on 10 April 2025.
The brutal murder of the 13-year-old shocked South Africa, largely due to the horrific manner in which it was committed.
On 2 February 2022, Van Wyk and his friend entered Smit's property and stole fruit from his garden. Smit claimed that he became angry when the boys mocked him during their conversation.
Brutal kidnapping and murder
'After pursuing them with his vehicle and catching Van Wyk, he took the boy home, broke his neck, put his body in the freezer, and later dismembered it,' Ntabazalila said.
The accused burnt the boy's corpse using techniques he said he picked up from a Chinese occult he joined as a teenager. During sentencing mitigation, Smit claimed that the occult had influenced him, attempting to lessen his responsibility.
ALSO READ: Lesotho family's three-year-old still not buried six months after tragic shack fire in SA
However, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Louise Freister-Sampson, rejected his claim of occult influence.
Freister-Sampson argued that Smit had not been active in the occult for more than 20 years; he had not performed rituals for more than 20 years, had converted to Christianity, and had the Aramaic words of God painted on his house walls and his vehicle.
The prosecutor also argued that Smit was in control when he committed the premeditated murder, that he was not influenced by the occult, and could not claim diminished responsibility. The court concurred.
NPA welcomes forfeiture
The NPA Director in the Western Cape, Advocate Nicolet Bell, welcomed the successful forfeiture of the vehicle.
'This forfeiture forms part of the NPA's broader strategy to ensure that crime does not pay by targeting not only the perpetrators but also the tools and proceeds of criminal conduct,' Ntabazalila said.
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