A South African mother and two accomplices were sentenced to life in prison this week for trafficking her 6-year-old daughter, who remains missing more than a year after her disappearance. Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and friend Steveno van Rhyn received life sentences for human trafficking plus 10 years for kidnapping on Thursday, May 29, following their convictions earlier this month.
The case has horrified South Africa since Joshlin Smith vanished from her Saldanha Bay home in February 2024. Judge Nathan Erasmus condemned the trio, stating Smith showed “no indication of remorse” for her daughter’s fate. “There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,” he said to CBS News.
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The courtroom reportedly cheered as the verdict was delivered. Prosecutors alleged Smith sold Joshlin to a traditional healer. A neighbor testified that Smith confessed to having “done something silly” and “sold my child to a sangoma,” claiming the healer “wanted her for her eyes and skin.”
The mother allegedly offered the neighbor money for silence. Joshlin’s teacher, Edna Maart, recalled Smith bizarrely claiming the girl was “on a ship, inside a container, and they were on the way to West Africa.”
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Describing Joshlin as a “very tidy” and quiet child, Maart’s testimony underscored the tragedy. A pastor also revealed that Smith once spoke of selling her children for 20,000 rand (~$1,100) each. While a suspected healer was briefly detained, insufficient evidence led to her release.
The case highlights South Africa’s kidnapping crisis, with over 17,000 cases reported in 2023/2024—an 11% annual increase. As the search for Joshlin continues, the sentencing offers little solace to her grandmother, who attended court wearing the missing girl’s image.
Smith wept when convicted on May 2, but Judge Erasmus dismissed drug use as any excuse. All three defendants denied involvement, yet the evidence sealed their fates.
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