Witness testifies on events leading to Joshlin Smith’s disappearance

State witness in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping case, Lourentia Lombaard, takes an oath before testifying.

2 minutes

The woman currently testifying in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial in the High Court sitting at Saldanha on the Cape West Coast, has told the court that she overheard the girl’s mother, Kelly Smith, telling her boyfriend that someone wants the child.

Kelly Smith’s friend, Lourentia Lombaard, who was accused number four in the matter and has now turned state witness, says a few moments later she saw Smith leaving the house with the girl to meet with a woman in a white car not far from where she stays.

Lombaard says the woman, whom she has described as having features of a sangoma, handed something to Smith which she put in her pants.

Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin Appollis and Steveno Van Rhyn are on trial on charges of kidnapping and trafficking in relation to the disappearance of the child in February last year.

Lombaard alleges that Kelly Smith offered her R1000 and accused 2, Steveno van Rhyn R1200 for their silence. The rest of the money she alleges was going to be split between Smith and her boyfriend, accused 1, Jacquen Appollis. She claims she never received her share.#sabcnews pic.twitter.com/z5HPjqSsXj

— Sphiwe Hobasi (@MrCow_man) March 14, 2025