A South African woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with two accomplices for trafficking her six-year-old daughter, who disappeared more than a year ago and remains missing.
Kelly Smith, 33, was jailed alongside her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday. All three were convicted of human trafficking and kidnapping.
The case has gripped South Africa since little Joshlin Smith vanished from her home in the coastal town of Saldanha Bay in February 2024.
During the trial, the court heard that Smith had discussed plans to sell her daughter the day before the girl disappeared. A witness testified that Smith said she had sold Joshlin to a traditional healer for 20,000 rand (£850; $1,100).
Judge Nathan Erasmus said the child had been treated “like a commodity” and described the crime as calculated exploitation. He found no reasons to show mercy to any of the three defendants.
“It is the duty of this court to balance all circumstances applicable and blend it with a level of mercy in arriving at a sentence,” Judge Erasmus said during sentencing. “However, I find no mitigating factors in this case.”
The judge criticised each defendant individually. He told Appollis, who has two children of his own, that he had “failed as a father figure” to Joshlin. Van Rhyn was described as “a menace to society” who had wasted opportunities to change his life.
Smith showed little emotion as the sentences were read out, though she had wept when the guilty verdicts were delivered earlier this month.
The three defendants had maintained their innocence throughout the eight-week trial, which began in March. They chose not to testify in their own defence and called no witnesses.
Joshlin’s father, Jose Emke, said he remained unsatisfied with the outcome because his daughter’s fate was still unknown.
“I will not be satisfied until I hear my daughter’s voice and see her face,” he told reporters. “Why can’t Kelly speak the truth and tell us what happened?”
Police have continued searching for Joshlin despite the convictions. Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile said the investigation remained active.
“While no sentence can erase the pain caused by the heartbreaking disappearance of young Joshlin, this outcome sends a powerful message that crimes against our most vulnerable citizens will not go unpunished,” he said.
The case has highlighted the problem of human trafficking in South Africa. Prosecutors said it represented a landmark conviction under the country’s relatively new anti-trafficking laws.
Joshlin lived with her mother in Middelpos, an informal settlement of makeshift homes where poverty and drug use are widespread. Judge Erasmus noted that the child had grown up in an environment plagued by social problems.
The prosecution had argued that all three defendants were regular drug users who showed no remorse for their actions. They were also sentenced to 10 years for kidnapping, to run alongside their life sentences.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered that their names be added to South Africa’s National Child Protection Register, which bars them from working with children.
The defendants’ lawyers indicated they may appeal the sentences, though Judge Erasmus initially refused leave to appeal during Thursday’s hearing.
For Joshlin’s family and the Saldanha Bay community, the convictions provide some sense of justice. But until the little girl is found, many questions remain unanswered about what happened on that February day when she disappeared.
