Laurentia Lombaard claims she was abducted and forced at gunpoint to search for Joshlin Smith

Raquel ‘Kelly’ Smith faces charges of human trafficking for exploitation and kidnapping following Joshlin Smith’s 19 February 2024 disappearance from the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais)

By Vincent Cruywagen

24 Mar 2025

State witness Laurentia Lombaard told the court that in the days after Joshlin Smith went missing, community members threatened to burn down her shack.

The State’s key witness in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping and human trafficking case has claimed that shortly after the then six-year-old’s disappearance, she and her boyfriend were attacked by a group of people who forced her to search for Joshlin at gunpoint.

On Monday, 24 March 2024, Laurentia Lombaard told the Western Cape High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Bay Multipurpose Centre, that a group of people wearing balaclavas took her, her boyfriend Ayanda Letoni and their two children to a house in Langebaan after Joshlin went missing.

“We were assaulted and questioned regarding Joshlin’s abduction. The people unknown to us stuffed our heads into bomber jackets and threw a blanket around us.”

She said she didn’t know her alleged attackers.

Lombaard said another group forced her to accompany them in the dark on a search for Joshlin, threatening her at gunpoint.

In the days following Joshlin’s disappearance, the community threatened to burn down Lombaard and Letoni’s shack in Middelpos, forcing them to eventually leave Saldanha Bay, she told the court.

Lombaard said the couple stayed at the Langebaan Police Station for two or three days before staying with Letoni’s brother in Cape Town and eventually leaving for the Eastern Cape.

kelly smith Raquel ‘Kelly’ Smith faces charges of human trafficking for exploitation and kidnapping following her daughter Joshlin Smith’s 19 February 2024 disappearance from the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais)

Joshlin’s mother Racquel Smith, known as Kelly, her boyfriend Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn face charges of human trafficking for exploitation and kidnapping following Joshlin’s 19 February 2024 disappearance from the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay.

The State contends that they “sold, delivered or exchanged” Joshlin and Lombaard, who was charged with the trio before she turned State witness, alleging Kelly sold her daughter to a sangoma for R20,000.

Read more: Shocking testimony unveils Kelly Smith’s alleged plot to sell six-year-old daughter Joshlin to a sangoma

The three have pleaded not guilty.

In her youth, Lombaard dreamt of becoming a model, which she has not given up on and is still pursuing. This dream, however, went up in smoke due to excessive use of mandrax and crystal methamphetamine, also known as tik.

A bleak picture of how drug addiction ended Lombaard’s school career in Grade 7 was depicted during cross-examination by Nobahle Mkabayi, counsel for Van Rhyn, shortly after advocate Fanie Harmse, representing Appollis, had completed nearly two days of cross-examination.

Lombaard’s drug abuse became apparent when on the first day of her cross-examination she told the court that she often took drugs two or three times a day.

Mkabayi began by asking Lombaard to describe herself and tell the court who she was and what her strengths were.

Lombaard, 33, said she grew up as the youngest child on a farm in Wolseley, Western Cape, with her parents and siblings. Her parents taught her discipline and respect. She completed her schooling in Grade 7.

“Every child that grows up has a dream or ambitions and my dream was I always wanted to be a model. I’m not in a hurry to get there, but I’m going to get there and still pursue that dream,” she told the court.

Read more: Brother offers new evidence in Joshlin Smith case, casting doubt on key witness’ testimony

Lombaard became pregnant with her first child at the age of 16. She has four children, two of whom are in Wolseley and the others with her partner, Letoni, in the Eastern Cape.

Lombaard told the court she was a responsible and caring mother who would neither do anything to harm her children nor allow anyone to hurt them.

The questioning switched to her alleged drug use. Mkabayi reminded Lombaard that she had testified that in 2024, she was using tik and mandrax. She has told the court she has overcome her drug habit.

“If I smoke tik then I’m high, when I smoke button [mandrax] I was higher and sometimes I was in slow motion,” Lombaard explained when questioned about her drug use.

Read more: Defence casts doubt on Laurentia Lombaard’s testimony in Joshlin Smith trial

Judge Nathan Erasmus interjected to explain the various ways people smoked tik and mandrax before Lombaard outlined her preference.

Lombaard has testified that she took drugs for the whole week before she was arrested in March 2024. Mkabayi asked where her children were during that period.

“They were with me and I looked after them.”

The trial continues on Tuesday, 24 March 2025. DM

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