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yesterday

South African Mother and Two Associates Sentenced to Life for Trafficking Six-Year-Old Daughter

Authorities continue to search for missing child Joshlin Smith following life sentences handed down after a six-week trial

Racquel "Kelly" Smith was sentenced alongside a boyfriend a mutual friend
Amanda Smith Daniels, grandmother of Joshlin Smith, awaits the start of the sentencing hearing at the Western Cape High Court in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, May 29, 2025. A South African judge is expected to sentence Kelly 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
Kelly Smith, the mother of Joshlin Smith, arrives for the sentencing hearing 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
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

Overview

  • Racquel “Kelly” Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn received life imprisonment for human trafficking along with concurrent 10-year terms for kidnapping at the Western Cape High Court.
  • Prosecutors established that Smith sold her daughter for about 20,000 rand to a traditional healer who sought the girl’s eyes and skin.
  • Judge Nathan Erasmus ordered that the trio’s names be entered into the national child protection register as part of the sentencing.
  • Joshlin Smith vanished from her home in Saldanha Bay in February 2024, prompting a nationwide search and a one-million-rand reward offer for information on her whereabouts.
  • The case has drawn intense attention to South Africa’s high incidence of child abduction and human trafficking.