Latest news with #NobahleMkabayi
IOL News
6 days ago
- IOL News
Judicial bias claims arise in Joshlin Smith appeal case
According to Nobahle Mkabayi, Judge Nathan Erasmus was biased and hostile towards her client. Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers The disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith from Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, returned to the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, this time with defence lawyer Nobahle Mkabayi locked in a heated exchange with Judge Nathan Erasmus over claims of judicial bias. Joshlin's mother, Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, her boyfriend Jacques 'Boeta' Appollis, and family friend Steveno 'Steffie' van Rhyn were earlier convicted of kidnapping and human trafficking after the little girl vanished in February 2024. The State's case centred on witness testimony and statements allegedly made by the accused, but Joshlin has not been found. Representing Van Rhyn in his bid for leave to appeal, Mkabayi accused Erasmus of mishandling key evidence and showing prejudice against her client during the original trial. 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ She argued that the judge should have examined certain statements before the trial-within-a-trial to determine whether they were confessions or admissions, and that comments made from the bench discouraged Van Rhyn from testifying. 'When I was leading my client, the court said Ms Swanepoel (State prosecutor) would make a field day out of you,' Mkabayi told Erasmus, describing the remark as threatening. Erasmus rejected her version: 'Why did you not ask for a special entry? I didn't say Ms Swanepoel was going to 'wipe the floor' with your client. Ms Heeramun was wiping the floor with Mr Harmse's client. Don't make statements that are not true.' The back-and-forth intensified as the judge pressed Mkabayi to explain why another court would view Van Rhyn's testimony differently. 'Tell me why his testimony should have been accepted. Is there a reasonable prospect they will win in the next court?' he asked. Mkabayi insisted her client's right to a fair trial had been compromised and said she wanted the matter heard by a different court to prove his innocence. Erasmus stood firm: 'When the defence closed their case, all we did was manage their case. Are you saying I was biased towards your client by saying that?' Mkabayi said yes.
IOL News
12-08-2025
- IOL News
Advocate Mkabayi seeks to overturn conviction in Joshlin Smith case due to procedural flaws
Steveno van Rhyn's lawyer, Nobahle Mkabayi is arguing her client was under duress when he confessed. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi, representing Steveno van Rhyn in the Joshlin Smith case, argued before the Western Cape High Court that her client's conviction should be overturned on grounds of procedural irregularities, unfair trial, and the use of a coerced confession. She complained about the State's key Section 204 witness, Lourentia 'Renz' Lombaard, who only returned to court three months after the conviction, raising questions about the reliability and management of the evidence. 'The miscarriage of this matter started on 31 January 2025. We appeared before the court bare-handed and clueless, with no contents of the docket, yet the matter was set down,' Mkabayi said. She argued that the case's pre-trial phase was fundamentally flawed because the defence was denied timely access to the State's evidence. 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ 'The State knew the attorneys, yet the details were never furnished before the pre-trial. When we arrived in court, my client was not there. This failure delayed the invocation of vital procedures and shadowed the appearance thereafter. 'As if that wasn't enough, we were burdened to climb the mountain to fetch the contents of the docket ourselves. It is unconstitutional to shift that duty to the defence. That is an affirmative duty of the State. We didn't climb one mountain, but more than that.' According to Mkabayi, the defence only received the docket contents about two weeks before trial, insufficient time to view video evidence, consult witnesses, and prepare a defence. 'Two weeks can never be enough. We perused the contents only to discover it was incomplete.' Judge Nathan Erasmus asked whether this issue should have been raised during the trial. Mkabayi said it had been raised, albeit not as a formal application. Van Rhyn was convicted of kidnapping and human trafficking along with Joshlin's mother, Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, and her boyfriend, Jacquen 'Boeta' Appollis, after the six-year-old went missing from her Middelpos home in Saldanha Bay on February 19, 2024. She further argued that her client's arrest on March 4, 2024, was unlawful, as the arresting officers did not have a warrant and never testified to explain the circumstances. 'Those are the real arresting officers. The omission to call them to testify is compelling,' she said. Erasmus noted that the accused did not dispute the officers' absence from the witness stand and asked whether an unlawful arrest automatically translated to an unfair trial. Mkabayi responded that her client had consistently tried to highlight what happened to him, including claims of torture. She stressed that the first doctor to examine him 'did not rule out' that his injuries were consistent with torture, yet Captain Philip Seekoei still took a confession from him. 'I submit any statement coming from a tortured person is inadmissible — a bleeding man has no will,' she said. She added that before the confession interview began, officers were present but never explained her client's rights, including the right to remain silent, the right to legal representation, and the right against self-incrimination. When Erasmus asked where that evidence was in the main trial, Mkabayi said it had been given during the trial-within-a-trial and 'was not erased'. She accused the court of failing to make an explicit ruling on the admissibility of the confession after the trial-within-a-trial, stating: 'The court was silent on that point. I counted more than 37 interferences by the court during proceedings. The confession, the statement taken from an injured person, cannot be considered voluntary. It was improperly obtained, and suffocation was used.'
