Heartrending details have emerged in the trial of Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, who was convicted of trafficking her own six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, in a case that has shocked and sickened people across the world
A South African courtroom broke out into applause this week, after a mother was sentenced to life behind bars for kidnapping and trafficking her own six-year-old child “for her eyes and skin”.
In February last year, sympathy poured in for Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, whose daughter, Joshlin Smith, vanished from their home in poverty-ridden Saldanha Bay, sparking a frantic search that drew comparisons to the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.
Smith claimed that, on February 19, 2024, she’d left the little girl in the care of her partner, Jacquen Appollis. Joshlin and her brother had stayed home as they didn’t have clean uniforms. At some point that afternoon, the schoolgirl disappeared and was reported missing at 9 pm that evening. She has not been seen since, and the search remains ongoing.
During a six-week trial at a community centre in Saldanha, a shocking story emerged, with witnesses testifying that Smith had planned to sell the green-eyed child to a healer named “sangoma” who wanted her for her body parts, and specifically, her “eyes and skin”.
Smith, Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have all now been convicted, while little Joshlin’s whereabouts remain a mystery. Here, the Mirror takes a look at some of the bombshells in a case that left South Africans horrified.
READ MORE: South African mum who sold daughter, 6, ‘for her eyes and skin’ gets life sentence
Sickening plot
Although some witnesses testified that Smith was a good mother to Joshlin and her brother, taking on odd jobs to put food on the table, other testimonies painted a far more harrowing picture. During the trial, one witness alleged Smith had discussed selling her children for 20,000 rand (£850) each.
Another claimed she’d planned to supply the child to the healer “sangoma” for her “eyes and skin”. A local pastor also testified that he heard Smith admitting that she would have accepted a lower price of $275 (£204).
Joshlin’s teacher, who remembers the little girl as quiet and “very tidy” as per BBC News, later testified that, as the desperate search progressed, Smith claimed Joshlin was already “on a ship, inside a container, and they were on the way to West Africa”. To this day, the child’s fate has never been confirmed, despite extensive search efforts.
‘Unconcerned’
Photographs of Joshlin were broadcast around South Africa, while well-meaning neighbours scoured the sand dunes close to the impoverished settlement of Middelpos. One minister even offered a £41,000 reward for Joshlin’s safe return.
Those who followed the story initially felt great sympathy for Smith; however, as stated last week by Judge Erasmus, her conduct was “not that of a concerned parent”. Addressing Smith, the judge asserted: “The conduct of … Ms Smith is not that of a concerned parent. And why not? In my mind, the only inference is that you knew (what happened).”
Speaking with local media, Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile confirmed that the search for the missing schoolgirl continued, stating: “We will not rest until we find [out] what happened to Joshlin. We are continuing day and night looking for her.”
No remorse
In handing down the sentences, Judge Nathan Erasmus said he “drew no distinction” between the three. “On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment,” he said to loud applause in the courtroom.
Smith, wearing a grey tracksuit, wiped her eye during the sentencing at the Western Cape High Court in Saldanha Bay. The judge expressed dismay at the trio, saying they showed no remorse. “There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming or deserving of a lesser sentence,” he said.
Troubled childhood
The court also heard sad details from Joshlin’s troubled childhood, which led to a family friend, Natasha Andrews, expressing a wish to adopt the child – an offer that Smith refused. By the time she was just 15, Smith was struggling with drug addiction after growing up in a neglectful household with her maternal grandmother. By the time Joshlin was born, Smith was living intermittently in a shelter for women who had suffered abuse.
When she later entered rehab, Natasha stepped up to care for Joshlinl grew up in a shack made out of corrugated iron. In a heartbreaking statement addressed to missing Joshlin, Natasha said: “We just want to hug you again. You are our flower, our baby and our green-eyed child.”
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READ MORE: Mum’s evil plot to sell daughter, 6, ‘for eyes and skin’ as fate remains unknown