Latest news with #JoshlinSmith
IOL News
18-07-2025
- IOL News
Joshlin Smith's mother and accomplices set to appeal life sentences
Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen 'Boeta' Appollis, and their friend Steveno 'Steffie' van Rhyn were found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking six-year-old Joshlin Smith in the Western Cape High Court. Image: Ian Landsberg / Independent Media Missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith's mother, Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, together with her kidnapping and human-trafficking accomplices, will appeal against their conviction and sentence in the Western Cape High Court next month. Jacquen Appollis, Steveno van Rhyn, and Smith were each handed a life imprisonment sentence after they were convicted on charges of trafficking in persons for exploitation and kidnapping of a child victim, who has been sold but has still not been found. State witness and former accused Lourentia Lombaard testified under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ They were sentenced on May 29 by Judge Nathan Erasmus after a marathon trial, which was heard over eight weeks, with two days of evidence and arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentence. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed the appeal will be heard at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on August 12 and 13. 'All three have filed papers challenging both conviction and sentence. The NPA will oppose the applications, and we are confident that there are no prospects of success,' said Ntabazalila. The court is also expected to deal with State witness Lourentia Lombaard, who testified under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Lombaard was initially arrested with the trio but turned State witness shortly after her arrest. 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. Joshlin Smith, who is believed to have been sold for R20,000, was reported missing on February 19 last year, and police continue to investigate her disappearance. Image: Supplied Judge Erasmus, when he handed down sentence, said reports and victim impact statements portrayed Smith as 'manipulative and manipulating the facts' as it suited her, and said she treated her child as a commodity. '(You) went as far as to blame your parents for your conduct in this matter. The evidence presented as to the disappearance of your own daughter was clear. Besides, on one occasion and earlier, I saw no indication of remorse. But it didn't start there because we know that from 19 February 2024, the lack of concern. Yes, I have to take into account that you have two other minor children, but fortunately, they are being cared for currently,' said Judge Erasmus. Judge Nathan Erasmus. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers Similarly, Judge Erasmus said to Appollis, who had two previous brushes with the law but which the court placed no emphasis on, that while he is the father of an 11-year-old daughter and was a father figure to Joshlin and her two siblings, he failed to show remorse for his involvement in the crimes. Judge Erasmus also noted that Appollis had 'no concern' for Joshlin's whereabouts. About Van Rhyn, who is also a father, Judge Erasmus quoted from probation officer Errol Pietersen's report, which labelled him a 'menace to society who, over and above the abuse and misuse of alcohol and substance abuse, chose a life of crime', having committed violent crimes of robbery and housebreaking. At sentencing, all three were also entered into the National Child Protection Register, which prohibits them from ever working with children. Joshlin, who is believed to have been sold for R20,000, was reported missing on February 19 last year, and police continue to investigate her disappearance as her whereabouts are still unknown.
eNCA
18-07-2025
- eNCA
Joshlin Smith's traffickers to appeal life sentences
CAPE TOWN - The trio found guilty in the Joshlin Smith trial will return to court next month to apply for leave to appeal their judgment and sentence. Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking for the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin. The Section 204 Inquiry to determine whether the state witness Lourentia Lombaard will be granted indemnity from prosecution will also be dealt with. Their applications will be heard in the Western Cape High Court on 12 and 13 August.
IOL News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Child Trafficking: How South Africa is Failing its Children
In a high profile case involving the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith (from left) Jacquen Appollis, Steveno van Rhyn, and Kelly Smith were sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and kidnapping in the Western Cape High Court. Our children are the most vulnerable victims of the broken promises of democracy, says the writer. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers Mary De Haas When three people found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking six-year-old Joslin Smith, including her mother, received life sentences, hopes were raised that the sentence would send a strong warning to the lowest form of criminal life. However, although hundreds of children are reported missing annually, with most never found, kidnapping has become a form of extortion prevalent in many communities, to extract ransom money from parents. Our children are the most vulnerable victims of the broken promises of democracy. Many suffer malnutrition, schooling worse than Bantu education, and horrific abuse and rape. Families and communities do not receive the government support services they should, while far too many girls are having children to access the childcare grants, and neglecting their offspring. The Smith case, like shock-inducing gender-based violence murders, demands that voters ensure accountability from government departments which is currently lacking – especially Social Development (DSD), Health, the SAPS and courts, who should be protecting and supporting children and their families. In the late 1980s the apartheid government, realizing the damage done to family life by a century of colonialism, formulated a Family Policy. It was not implemented by the incoming government. The Department of Social Development is a prime offender, as funding for many NPOs doing good work has been cut. The Children's Act of 2005 is an excellent piece of legislation but, with exceptions, the training of social workers has plummeted in recent decades, with some accused of criminality. The Family Courts often fail to implement the legislation, as illustrated by the following case not located in KZN The complicity of Joslin Smith's mother compounded public outrage, but it is not an isolated case. The daughter of grandmother M, who had not wanted to keep her baby, had left her toddler son T, with M when she left for a job overseas; evidence subsequently emerged that she had probably been trafficked herself. M loved the baby, and bonded closely with him but, many months after her daughter, with whom communication was erratic, had left, social workers from a local NPO removed the child from his creche, claiming that his mother had ordered it. The child was placed with a distant cousin he did not know. No documentation was provided to M, who was referred to the Family Court, where she attended and endured regular remands. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ There were no reports from DSD social workers, nor any attempt by them to arrange the contact between T and M, as required by the legislation. It transpired that they did not know how to arrange contact or write court reports. M approached the local police about her trafficking concerns, but they did not assist. Months after T was removed, M's daughter told her mother she was returning to South Africa but, when she did, and took T herself, she announced she was returning overseas (probably, from previous travels, to the Middle East). The assistance of the Family Violence Unit and the Hawks was enlisted, to no avail, and an intervention by a social worker for M to the court was ignored. T's mother, who had lied to the court, was allowed to remove him from South Africa, raising questions about how often Family Courts fail in their mandate. This M case led to a small group of experienced social workers and academics exchanging ideas and experiences, and engaging with the professional council, to improve training, and to motivate for continuing professional development. Rigorous practical experience is the most important part of social work training, and too many students have not received it because some universities enrolled more students than staff capacity could handle – and because many were deployed to DSD for the practical component, and often left to fend for themselves. Students who do not know how to implement legal processes to ensure the best interest of the child, and cannot write coherent reports, should never graduate. As with other government departments, it may be near impossible to make contact with DSD social workers when they are needed in vulnerable communities. Telephones do not work or are not answered. With funding for NPOs scarce, many voluntary and faith-based bodies try to fill the gap in child protection. However, given that the most vulnerable communities are often terrorized by drug dealers, and there is an acute shortage of rehabilitation facilities for them, the poor remain the most vulnerable to traffickers. Yet no one is holding the government, and its near-broken criminal justice system, to account. It was Nelson Mandela who said 'History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children'. His immortal words are a glaring indictment of our government and all of us who fail our children – the future of our country. For our children, every day – not once a year – should be a Mandela Day. * Mary de Haas is a violence monitor in KZN, a honorary Research Fellow at the University of KZN's School of Law and a member of the Navi Pillay Research Group on justice and human rights. ** The views in this article do not necessarily represent the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The children abducted and sold to be cut into pieces for black magic rituals: As mother is jailed for life for selling six-year-old girl, how the gruesome market for body parts has led to series of horrific murders
The tragic case of Joshlin Smith, a six-year-old whose mother sold her to a self-professed 'healer', has captivated and horrified South Africa. Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was this week found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking her daughter and will spend the rest of her life in prison. The court heard how Little Joshlin, who had a fair complexion and striking turquoise eyes, was sought out by the 'healer' for her 'light eyes and skin'. She disappeared in February 2024 and is widely believed to have been killed for her body parts and organs after a months-long search operation failed to locate her. But Joshlin is far from the only child to have met this bleak fate simply because of their appearance. Human trafficking and murder for body parts and organs are rife in some parts of Africa, and no one is more at risk of becoming a victim than people with albinism (PWAs). The continent's albinos - sometimes referred to as 'the invisibles' - have historically suffered appalling treatment. Not long ago, albino babies were routinely killed at birth, thought by their parents to be bad omens or curses. Today, infanticide has largely declined, but many PWAs are born with a price tag on their head as those who believe in black magic and traditional medicine claim their fair skin and eyes can bring good fortune and cure afflictions. There are hundreds of recorded cases across East and Central African nations of albino children and adults alike being butchered - sometimes by their own relatives - and their remains used in macabre concoctions. Bones are ground down and buried in the earth by miners, who believe they will be transformed into diamonds. The genitals are made into treatments to bolster sexual potency, and their hair is woven into fishermen's nets. Albinism is a condition caused by a genetic mutation that strips the skin, hair and eyes of pigment created by melanin, a substance that also acts as a shield against the sun's harmful ultraviolet light. The lack of protective melanin comes with heightened risks of skin cancer and vision loss for those exposed to the sun. Those born with it can generally live long, healthy lives provided they are appropriately looked after as children and have the provisions to protect themselves as adults. Unfortunately, this is not often the case in large parts of Africa. More than 90% of people with albinism on the continent, where roughly one out of every 5,000 people is born with the condition, die before they reach the age of 40 due to health complications brought on by sun exposure. However, white skin from albinism can be a death sentence for a very different reason, especially in Tanzania where roughly one in 1,400 people are born with albinism - the highest incidence of the condition anywhere in the world. In rural areas, PWAs are sometimes banned from working or going to school and are isolated by their communities - a move that makes them all the more vulnerable to bounty hunters, traffickers, witch doctors and impoverished citizens with nowhere else to turn. One of the most dangerous myths is that having sex with an albino can cure HIV. That belief has driven an epidemic of sexual violence against albino women, many of whom contract the virus as a result. Then there are the killings. PWAs are hunted, murdered, and dismembered. Children are kidnapped from their families, or in some cases sold off by willing parents desperate for money. Even in death, they are not safe. Grave robbers are known to desecrate the graves of PWAs to steal their bones. In May 2024, Tanzania's Kagera region witnessed the horrific abduction and murder of Asimwe Novath, a two-and-a-half-year-old child with albinism. On May 30, reports emerged that Asimwe had been abducted after a unknown group attacked her mother and tore her away, according to The Citizen. On June 17, 2024, Asimwe's mutilated body was discovered. Her limbs, tongue and eyes had been removed, and what remained of her corpse was dumped by a roadside in a sack. Asimwe's own father was among nine people charged in connection with the murder. As attacks on PWAs became more widely reported after the turn of the century, governments and judiciaries have taken some steps to reduce the violence. In 2009, a Tanzanian court handed out death sentences to three men who were convicted of abducting and butchering 14-year-old albino boy Matatizo Dunia - the first time capital punishment was handed out for such a crime. The attackers broke into Dunia's home and dragged him out of his bed before hacking him to pieces. One was reportedly found holding his severed leg while the boy's dismembered corpse was discovered dumped in scrubland. But there are thought to be dozens if not hundreds of cases of attacks on PWAs that go uninvestigated or unreported altogether, and critics say many governments - including that of Tanzania - are doing little to change the violent trend. In February, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) delivered a landmark judgment against the Tanzanian government after civil rights groups successfully argued officials were committing human rights violations by failing to prosecute attacks against PWAs. The ruling decreed that the government must launch a years-long public awareness campaign, criminalise attacks against PWAs and increase healthcare provisions for albinos those with skin and eye problems. It came after the UN last year condemned Tanzanian authorities for their failure to condemn and investigate attacks against PWAs after examining multiple cases of mutilation which were either not investigated, or had prosecutions withdrawn. It remains to be seen whether the ACHPR's ruling will have any effect on the Tanzanian government's policies, given that there is no official method to enforce the court's decisions. Tanzania is just one of several nations where violence against PWAs is rife. The past two decades have seen dozens of cases of PWA mutilations and killings in neighbouring Kenya, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), among others. One particularly depraved case in Malawi saw a Catholic priest slapped with a 30-year prison sentence for killing a 22-year-old man with albinism before trying to sell his body parts. Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga said priest Thomas Muhosha had planned to traffic 22-year-old MacDonald Masambuka's tissue. Masambuka was violently killed in February 2018 after he was lured to a secluded spot on the pretence that friends had found him a potential wife. He was reported missing and his mutilated corpse was discovered a month later missing all of its limbs. Five people, including Muhosha and the victim's own brother, received jail sentences for their role in the murder. The killing occurred at the height of a spree that saw over 40 people with albinism murdered and scores of others assaulted in a matter of months. 'The convicts took advantage of the deceased's psychological need for love,' the judge said. 'They lured him into believing that they had found a prospective wife for him and that they should go and meet her - that ended up being his death trap.' The lack of support has seen PWAs and families of those with albinism launch their own charitable organisations and activist groups to protect members of their communities and raise awareness. Madame Ngom Maceline, founder and executive director of Cameroon's Association for the Welfare of Albinos (AWA), is one such charity that works to educate and empower people with albinism. The organisation raises funds to provide PWAs with suncream, appropriate clothing and other provisions, and works to protect them from vile attacks by fellow villagers. It also seeks to promote understanding in communities, as it takes on the mammoth task of changing people's attitudes and safeguard people with albinism in doing so. 'Persons with albinism are not considered 'normal',' said Maceline, who has the condition herself. 'In that way, they are always left behind. They don't have any belongings, they don't receive direct support from the government.' 'You have people that use their hair for wealth,' Maceline said. 'They say that when you have the hairs of a person with albinism, especially women's, it empowers you to get riches.' Her campaigning has seen her speak to government ministers and work with the UN in the hope of changing attitudes towards albino people across Cameroon. Meanwhile in Tanzania, specialist centres have been set up to protect PWAs, effectively operating as communes or sanctuaries, but they are often woefully underfunded.
The Citizen
01-06-2025
- The Citizen
Joshlin Smith case: WMACA urges more arrests
AVON Earn extra money. each month. Whatsapp your name. 082 680 6242 and I will. show you how Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) has welcomed the life sentences handed down to Kelly Smith and her co-accused in the harrowing case of six-year-old Joshlin Smith's disappearance. The case has become a chilling symbol of the ongoing crisis of child trafficking in South Africa. Joshlin Smith vanished and was reportedly sold for R20 000. The court found that Smith, along with two co-accused, conspired in the sale of the child. ALSO READ: You have a legal obligation to report child abuse – State Advocate While WMACA expresses satisfaction with the outcome of the trial, they firmly believe that more individuals were involved who have yet to face justice. 'There was a middleman, and there was a client. Someone wanted something from this child, and we still don't know who they are,' WMACA said. 'There are people who were nearby, who saw or heard things. Too many loose ends remain.' WMACA is calling on those convicted to come forward with the full truth now. With nothing left to lose, they urge the guilty to reveal the identities of any additional accomplices. One of the most disturbing aspects of the case, according to WMACA, is the involvement of Joshlin's mother. 'How does a mother even begin a conversation about selling her child? And how does that conversation lead to a buyer, whether for the entire child or body parts? It's diabolical.' ALSO READ: Bertha Gxowa creates awareness on child abuse Despite the absence of Joshlin's body, WMACA holds the convicted trio fully responsible for her disappearance, whether she is ultimately found alive or dead. 'Nothing less than a life sentence would have been acceptable,' the organisation stated. WMACA acknowledges and praises Judge Erasmus for delivering a sentence that sends a strong message. The organisation mourns that it took such a tragic and horrific case to bring attention to the horrors of child trafficking. 'Justice was served in court, but for Joshlin and countless other children who disappear without a trace, we may never know the full truth. We only wish that a little girl had not met such a gruesome fate for the world to take notice.' At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
