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The accused in the Joslin Smith case, Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn seen in the dock during an appearance.
The legal representative for Kelly Smith, who is appearing in the Saldanha Bay Circuit High Court in the Western Cape over the disappearance of her daughter Joshlin, says his client will plead not guilty to the charges against her.
The charges include trafficking for the purpose of exploitation and kidnapping.
Seven-year-old Joshlin went missing a year ago in the Middelpos informal settlement.
Rinesh Sivnarain has read out his client’s statement in which he says she has no knowledge of the offences she is accused of committing.
“I do not have any knowledge of the offences for which I have been indicted. Nor did I for any purpose plan to commit such offences. I deny all the allegations and plead not guilty to the charges against me until the state can prove thereof.”
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Moreover, the mother of the missing seven-year-old says he had left her children with instructions not to go to school on the day of her disappearance because their uniforms were dirty, and she left for work.
Smith and co-accused her boyfriend, Jacquen Appolis and mutual friend, Steveno Van Rhyn are on trial for the disappearance of her daughter, Joshlin.
Sivnarain says his client is pleading not guilty to the charges of trafficking of persons with the purposes of exploitation and kidnapping.
Earlier, Smith told the police that Joshlin could not go to school because she was ill and left her in the care of Appolis, accused number one in this matter.
Part of Smith’s statement as read by Sivnarain says that Joshlin was not attending school as her uniform was dirty, she then dropped her youngest at creche and went to work, at the time she was employed as a domestic worker, however, after 12 o’clock midday, she borrowed R50 which she used to buy drugs and then went home and smoked the drugs with accused number one.
“I noticed that both my children were still at home by that time. After smoking, I proceeded back to work.”
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