Particle.news
Download on the App Store
22 ARTICLES
·
4h ago

South African mother and accomplices sentenced to life for trafficking her daughter

Police have extended the search beyond South Africa for the six-year-old sold for her “light eyes and skin” by her mother

Kelly Smith, the mother of Joshlin Smith, attends her sentencing at the Western Cape High Court in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, May 29, 2025. A South African judge sentenced Smith and her two accomplices after they were found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking Smith's six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham
Image
Racquel "Kelly" Smith was sentenced alongside a boyfriend a mutual friend
FILE - Kelly Smith, the mother of missing Joshlin Smith, appears in court in Vredenburg, South Africa, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

Overview

  • Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn received life terms for human trafficking and concurrent ten-year sentences for kidnapping after a six-week trial in Saldanha Bay.
  • Trial testimony established that Smith sold her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin, to a traditional healer, a sangoma, for 20,000 rand because of her light complexion and eye color.
  • Judge Nathan Erasmus ordered the trio’s names entered into the child protection register and noted that Smith showed no indication of remorse during sentencing.
  • Joshlin Smith has remained missing since February 2024 despite a nationwide manhunt that authorities have now expanded beyond South Africa’s borders.
  • The case has drawn attention to South Africa’s rising child trafficking and kidnapping rates, which climbed 11 percent in the 2023/2024 financial year.