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State witness Lourentia Lombaard testifies in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping case.
In a dramatic turn of events at the Joshlin Smith kidnapping and human trafficking trial, the Kelly Smith’s lawyer has said his client believes Lourentia Lombaard and her boyfriend, Ayanda Letoni, are the masterminds behind Joshlin’s disappearance.
Lombaard is the state’s key witness in the trial underway in Saldhana Bay in the Western Cape.
Smith, Jacquen “Boeta” Apollis and Steveno van Rhyn are the three accused in connection with the child’s disappearance. Lombaard says they sold the child to a sangoma for R20 000.
The defence for Smith, Rinesh Sivnarain, says his client says Lombaard was the last person to be seen with her child.
“I’m then further instructed that she then came to your house that evening, but did not find you there. I’m instructed that it was only Ayanda with the children and he could not explain your whereabouts. I’m instructed that a possible reason you are implicating her is to save your own skin. I’m also instructed that she believes that it was you and Ayanda that were the masterminds and who committed this,” says Sivnarain.
Lombaard says at first she confronted Smith about selling #JoshlinSmith and she allegedly replied by saying she needed the money.
This is alleged to have happened a day before Joshlin disappeared on 19 February 2024.#sabcnews pic.twitter.com/3o37jCl4Pm
— Sphiwe Hobasi (@MrCow_man) March 14, 2025
VIDEO | Proceedings at the Joshlin Smith kidnapping and human trafficking trial:
