Latest news with #RacquelSmith
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Mother is accused of SELLING two-year-old daughter to 'shaman' after corpse is found - as it's feared she was murdered for body parts in second witch doctor case to rock South Africa
A mother has been accused of selling her two-year-old daughter to a 'witch doctor' after her child's corpse was found buried in a shallow grave. Kuneuwe Shalaba appeared alongside 'shaman' Sebokoana Khounyana in court yesterday, charged with the brutal murder of her toddler, who she allegedly sold for £3,100. Many fear the pair killed the child for her body parts in what could be the second witch doctor case to rock South Africa. It comes after evil Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was jailed for life last week for selling her daughter, Joshlin, for just £800. The 6-year-old schoolgirl vanished outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February last year and was never seen again. However, in this latest case, a body was recovered, and an alleged accomplice to the killing arrested. Details emerging from the latest case have sparked fears that up to a third of the over 1000 children murdered each year in South Africa may be being targeted for body parts. A major search effort was launched after Kuneuwe Shalaba, 33, reported her child missing. At first Shalaba claimed the child, Kutlwano, was a boy but later admitted she was a girl. She said the toddler was snatched from her by three kidnappers who sped off in a VW Golf near Johannesburg. Police had been searching for the child for 6 months before investigators discovered that just two hours before they received the report a large amount of money was paid into Shalaba's bank. Mother-of-five Shalaba - who was struggling to make ends meet and feed her kids – received a year's money from a mystery man which she could not explain when detectives confronted her. Magistrates heard that she then not only confessed that she made up the kidnap story but had in fact led the police to believe they were trying to find her 'son' when the missing toddler was in fact a girl. Shalaba of Boipatong township, 55 miles south of Johannesburg, had her phone calls analysed which led police to a sangoma or 'witch doctor' working out of a nearby taxi rank. National Police Authority spokesman Lumka Mahanjana said in a statement that when arrested the sangoma confessed his part in the disappearance of the girl and led officers to an abandoned mine. After digging with shovels police discovered a skeleton which is currently undergoing a post-mortem to determine the exact cause of death and if any of her body parts had been harvested. So called muti killings – the taking of body parts from murdered children by a small number of sangoma's to make 'black magic' potions for the rich – claim 50 to 300 victims every year in South Africa. Sangoma is a Zulu term that is colloquially used to describe all types of Southern African traditional healers. Shalaba – who had been charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to police – was charged with premeditated murder when the body was discovered. NPA spokeswoman Miss Mahanjana confirmed that the sangoma named as Sebokoana Khounyana, 50, had also been charged with premeditated murder and human trafficking along with the girl's mother. Yesterday's media statement on Facebook said that on November 10 last year the mother took the toddler to see the sangoma and 'requested that he kill her' because she was not happy with its gender. It continued: 'She was tired of hiding the gender from her family that the child was a girl. The mother then allegedly fed the baby poison and after that the baby died and the two buried her in a shallow grave. 'After investigations by the police the sangoma was arrested on 29 May, 2025, and he subsequently made a confession and pointed out to the police the place where the body of the child had been buried. 'In court today the matter was postponed to 05 June 2025 for legal representation to be found for the sangoma. The state intends to oppose his release on bail and previously denied the mother's release on bail'. In February pleading for bail Shalaba said she was 9 months pregnant with twins – which she has since given birth to behind bars – and would not abscond but a magistrate ordered her to remain in jail. The alleged child killer is separated from her husband and is known as a loan shark to locals who trades in buying and selling clothes and has two other children aged 6 and 9 being cared for by relatives. The prosecution believes Kutlwano – who was dressed as a boy and introduced to family and friends as a boy – was murdered on November 10 and that the mother reported her kidnapped on November 13. She was arrested on November 19 at home in Boipatong 40 miles south of Johannesburg and her daughter's body was found on May 29 buried in a shallow grave in the nearby town of Randfontein. Both the mother and the sangoma were brought to Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court south of Johannesburg where locals who knew them both packed the court to watch the proceedings. Magistrate Michael Tlale was taken by surprise when the sangoma was brought before him for the first time and insisted he did not need a lawyer as he said he was guilty of the charges he was accused of. Mr Tlale said he would have to ignore his plea until proceedings reached a stage when he could take it. The pair had the charges of human trafficking and premeditated murder formally put to them. Mother Shalaba is also accused of conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to the police. A South African Police source said: 'The money trail is being followed from the accused mother's bank account to discover who paid her such a substantial amount of money and why they did. 'For a person in the accused's position that is an awful lot of money and it is only fair to reason that whoever was paying that amount would have expected something in return', he said. NPA spokesman Miss Mahanjana confirmed a post-mortem was underway to ascertain 'exactly what was done to the child' before death and whether any body parts were harvested from it. The shocking sale of little Kutlwano appears to be a chilling copycat case of that of an evil mother who was jailed for life last week for selling her six-year-old daughter for just £800 allegedly into slavery. Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was said to have been sought out by a traditional healer who wanted her daughter Joshlin for her 'light eyes and skin' who 'vanished' from her township and never seen again. Last Thursday the mother-of-three was sentenced to life behind bars by Judge Nathan Erasmus for human trafficking by selling her daughter Joshlin and for kidnapping her given an additional 10 years. Her boyfriend Jacquen Apollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were also given life sentences for their part in the shocking kidnap and sale of tragic Joshlin at Saldanha Bay 80 miles north of Cape Town. The fun loving schoolgirl was last seen outside her home last February and the 8 week trial at the community centre in Saldanha Bay heard she was almost certainly sold into 'expoloitation and slavery'. The South African Police insisted that the search for her will continue 'night and day' until she is found and have begged her mother to reveal what happened to Joshlin but she refused to co-operate. The court heard drug user Kelly had told friends and a local pastor she had sold Joshlin for £835 in February last year to a sangoma and was later charged by police over her disappearance. The case rocked South Africa and highlighted the hundreds of cases throughout Africa of 'healers' – known as sangomas or 'witch doctors' – who take children to use body parts to make 'miracle potions'. So far although this fate is strongly feared it has not yet been proven in either the Joshlin or Kutlawano cases. Pyschologists who have studied the sale of children to sangomas who are mutilated for 'black magic' say the potions sell for far more if the body parts are removed while the terrified child is still alive. The sangomas claim their potions – which are sold according to which body parts are used to make them – can cure fatal diseases, bring luck in love, bring instant wealth and even kill buyers enemies. Huge superstition still holds sway over large parts of the African population who highly respect and fear the sangomas and pay them large amounts of money for their so called 'black magic' potions. Both accused killers Shalaba and Khounyana will appear before the same magistrate on June 5.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- 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.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Africa Daily Focus on Africa: South Africa's human trafficking problem
A South African woman, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have been given life sentences after being convicted of trafficking her missing 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith. The case has captivated and horrified audiences around the world. It has also highlighted the wider issue of human trafficking in South Africa. An anti-trafficking campaigner responds to the rulling and explains the extend of problem in the country. Also, Kenya and Mayotte sign a trade deal to boost economic ties. What will be traded? And a tribute to and exploration of, Kenya's literary giant Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who has died at the age of 87. Presenter: Richard Kagoe Technical Producer: Jonathan Greer Producers: Nyasha Michelle, Tom Kavanagh and Amie Liebowitz in London. Charles Gitonga in Nairobi Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Focus on Africa Joshlin Smith: South Africa's human trafficking problem
A South African woman, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have been given life sentences after being convicted of trafficking her missing 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith. The case has captivated and horrified audiences around the world. It has also highlighted the wider issue of human trafficking in South Africa. An anti-trafficking campaigner responds to the rulling and explains the extent of problem in the country. Also, Kenya and Mayotte sign a trade deal to boost economic ties. What will be traded? And a tribute to and an exploration of, Kenya's literary giant Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who has died at the age of 87. Presenter: Richard Kagoe Technical Producer: Jonathan Greer Producers: Nyasha Michelle, Tom Kavanagh and Amie Liebowitz in London. Charles Gitonga in Nairobi Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
South African woman sentenced to life for selling six-year-old daughter
A South African woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment alongside two accomplices for trafficking her then six-year-old daughter, in a case that gripped South Africa and gained international attention after the girl went missing last year. Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their friend, Steveno van Rhyn, were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking Joshlin Smith, who disappeared from her home in a small township in the Western Cape in February 2024. Joshlin has still not been found, despite an extensive police search. During the trial, a witness said Smith had told her she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, a traditional healer, for 20,000 rand (£830) and that the girl had been desired for her 'eyes and skin'. Another witness, a pastor, said Smith told him in 2023 that she planned to sell her daughter. 'There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,' the high court judge Nathan Erasmus said. Erasmus also imposed a 10-year kidnapping sentence on the three, to run concurrently with the life sentence for human trafficking, and ordered their names be entered into the child protection register. Erasmus said the fact Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn were drug users was no excuse and described Smith as 'a person who is manipulative and manipulates the facts as it suits you'. '[You] went as far as to blame your parents for your conduct in this matter,' the judge said during the sentencing in Saldanha Bay, a fishing town 85 miles north of Cape Town. 'The evidence presented as to the disappearance of your own daughter was clear. Besides on one occasion earlier and yesterday, I saw no indication of remorse, but it didn't start there because we know from 19 February 2024 the lack of concern.' Smith's mother, Amanda Daniels, was present at the sentencing, wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with a photograph of Joshlin's face. The day before, a court officer read out a victim impact statement on her behalf, describing how she had 'cried my eyes out' on Mother's Day earlier in May. Daniels' statement said: 'Kelly, you have made our lives hell on earth. I feel like my heart has been ripped from my body. You have broken [this family] apart.' Daniels is now caring for Smith's two other children, of whom Joshlin was the middle child, and said she was constantly afraid they would go missing too. South Africa police said they had extended the search for Joshlin outside the country. Soon after her disappearance, Gayton McKenzie, the leader of the populist, minority Patriotic Alliance party and now sport and culture minister, offered a 1m rand (£42,000) reward for her safe return. Kidnappings have soared recently in South Africa, with more than 17,000 in the 12 months to 31 March 2024, almost treble three years earlier, according to South African police data. Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this story
