Second witness in the Joslin Smith trial takes the stand

A second witness, a police detective, has been called to the stand to testify in the trial of Joslin Smith in Saldanha Bay Circuit High Court in the Western Cape.

Seven-year-old Joslin went missing a year ago.

The officer has been recounting the events of February 19th 2024 when the child went missing. He says they received a call from radio control to say a child was missing in the Middelpos informal settlement. He testified that Joslin’s mother, Kelly Smith, who was standing on the roadside stopped them and said her child had disappeared.

Smith, Jacquen Appolis and the third co-accused Steveno Van Rhyn have pleaded not guilty to all the charges they are facing. .

NPA Spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, says, “I can confirm that Constable Luzuko Kobese who was a partner of Sergeant Gongota, who went on the night of 19th February last year, took the stand. He is the second witness in the state’s list of witnesses. He mostly (corroborated what) Sergeant Gongota said that they got a message from the station of a missing child, then they went to the area where the child was missing. Then they met with Kelly who reported to them that her child is missing. One of the things he (corroborated) was that when they met with Kelly, she looked calm she was not hysterical like someone who just lost a child,” says Van Rhyn.

The child has not yet been found.

Presiding Judge, Nathan Erasmus, says if the accused are convicted of count one or any alternatives, the state will ask the court to impose life imprisonment.

“‘You would have noted that the prosecution included in the indictment, the provisions of Section 51 (1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Otherwise known as the minimum sentences act. That means that the state will ask this court to impose life imprisonment in the event that you are convicted of count one or any of the alternates there to,” says Erasmus.

 Joslin Smith kidnapping case resumes: