A South African mother has been jailed for life for selling her six-year-old daughter to a healer who wanted her for her “eyes and skin.”
Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, 35, will spend the rest of her life behind bars for kidnapping and trafficking her daughter, Joshlin Smith, in 2024.
Her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and friend, Steveno Van Rhyn, were also sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles as accomplices.
Highlights
- Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment for selling her 6-year-old daughter Joshlin to a healer for her body parts.
- Smith's boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and friend, Steveno Van Rhyn, also received life sentences for their roles in trafficking Joshlin.
- Joshlin disappeared in February 2024 and has not yet been found.
- Over 30 witnesses testified, revealing an elaborate scheme where Smith tried to bribe them for silence and planned to sell her children for money.
- Judge Erasmus condemned Smith's lack of remorse and sentenced all three to life for human trafficking and 10 years for kidnapping.
Racquel Smith will spend the rest of her life behind bars for selling her daughter
Joshlin disappeared from her home in Saldanha Bay near Cape Town in February 2024. She has not yet been found.
Prosecutors say that Smith, Appollis, and Van Rhyn were part of an elaborate scheme to sell Joshlin for their own benefit.
“Joshlin was sold, delivered to the intended buyer, and the purpose of her being sold was for the purpose of exploitation, namely for slavery or practices similar to slavery,” the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa said.
Image credits: Gallo Images/Die Burger/Jaco Marais
Over the course of the eight-week trial, more than 30 witnesses took the stand, including a neighbor whom Smith had attempted to bribe into silence.
Laurentia Lombaard, once co-accused, spoke as a state witness during the trial, and told the court that Smith, a mother of three, had confessed to “doing something silly.”
The “silly” act had been to sell Joshlin to a “sangoma”—a traditional South African healer— who “wanted her for her eyes and skin,” Lombaard said.
Image credits: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
The NPA said Lombaard was to be paid about $56 for her silence, Van Rhyn was promised $66, and the rest of the cash would be pocketed by Appollis and Smith.
Among the witnesses at the trial was a local pastor, who said Smith had spoken about selling her children for 20,000 rand ($1,115) each, the BBC reports.
Smith also indicated that she would be willing to accept as little as $275.
Joshlin disappeared in 2024 and has not been found
Joshlin’s teacher told the court that during the search for the missing girl, Smith had claimed her daughter was already “on a ship, inside a container, en route to West Africa.”
Smith’s other children are now in the care of her mother, Amanda Smith-Daniels, who gave a powerful victim impact statement that played a role in the sentencing of her daughter.
“I am praying for Joshlin, I am praying for her safety; I am praying that God is watching over her wherever she is,” Daniels said.
Photographed below is the home where Joshlin Smith once lived in Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Image credits: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
“My heart aches every time I think of what you might be going through. I cannot rest until you are safe.
“The Andrews who wanted to adopt Joshlin would have been incredible parents to her, but now they are also left with immense pain, all because of you,” she added.
Natasha Andrews, who wanted to adopt Joshlin, also delivered an emotional victim impact statement.
“I miss your laughter and the sound of your voice. It is a silence that echoes through our home every day,” she said.
“Joshlin, you are our flower, our beloved child. We hold onto hope that one day we will hug you again.”
During sentencing, Judge Nathan Erasmus condemned Smith for her lack of remorse and said life was the only appropriate sentence.
Smith, Appollis, and Van Rhyn were all added to the child protection register
He also said that he “drew no distinction” between the trio when handing down their sentences.
“On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment,” Erasmus said.
Smith, Appollis, and Van Rhyn have all been added to the child protection register.
According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the South African Police Service reported 17,061 kidnappings for the 2023-24 period, marking an 11% increase from the previous year.