Missing Joshlin Smith: Teacher reveals disturbing allegations of West African kidnapping call in court

Joshlin Smith. (Photo: Supplied)

12 Mar 2025

Joshlin Smith’s Grade 1 teacher has told the Western Cape Division of the High Court that Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith had claimed she received a call saying that her daughter was on a shipping container to West Africa.

On day eight of the trial of missing Joshlin Smith, Edna Maart, Joshlin’s Grade 1 teacher, revealed that Joshlin’s mother, Racquel Smith, also known as Kelly, purportedly told her that she had received a call from a Nigerian man who claimed the six-year-old was in a container en route to West Africa.

Maart is the State’s tenth witness in the trial, which began on 3 March 2025 in the Western Cape Division of the High Court at the Saldanha Bay Multipurpose Centre before Judge Nathan Erasmus.

She took the stand on Wednesday, 12 March 2025, after the cross-examination of Siliziwe Mbambo, a Saldanha Bay social worker.

Kelly and her co-accused, Jacquen Appollis, her boyfriend, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking stemming from Joshlin’s disappearance.

The three, who have pleaded not guilty, rejected the charges brought against them. It is the State’s contention that the accused “sold, delivered or exchanged” Joshlin.

Read more: Family history of abuse, addiction and neglect laid bare in Joshlin Smith trial

Joshlin went missing from the Middelpos informal settlement on 19 February 2024. Kelly has claimed she went to work that day and left Joshlin with Appollis, and that Joshlin wasn’t there when she returned.

According to Maart, the school decided on 23 February to assist the community in their search for Joshlin after school.

On the way to the meeting point, Maart, who was accompanied by two other teachers in the car, first stopped at a garage station.

“While the petrol attendant was filling up my car, Kelly got into the left back side passenger door. Her words to me were, ‘Juffrou, I want to tell you something confidential.’

“What Kelly told me was that she had received a call from a Nigerian man. She must hurry up (moet gou speel). This Nigerian also told her that Joshlin was in a container on a ship en route to West Africa,” Maart told the court.

Joshlin Smith's mother 'Kelly' Smith. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais)

There is still no trace of six-year-old Joshlin Smith. (Photo: Supplied)

Maart added that she asked Kelly if she had shared this information with the police. According to Maart, Kelly told her she had not, and that she was scared that they would hurt her. It is unclear why she apparently feared the police, but Van Rhyn and Appollis have claimed they were assaulted by SAPS members.

The claim hasn’t been presented in court before and adds to the widespread speculation on what happened to Joshlin and what her mother’s role was in her disappearance. Kelly and her co-accused have already presented multiple versions of what happened on the day of the disappearance.

The court has heard that 150 detectives from several police stations in the Western Cape were part of the search for Joshlin. In total, 380 SAPS members formed the team that looked for Joshlin, who has still not been found.

The search also included Public Order Police, Port of Entry police, as well as a helicopter and drones. More than 100 community members also took part in the search.

Read more: Saldanha Bay fishing communities now live in fear as gangsterism runs rife

Joshlin was a Grade 1 learner in Maart’s class from 17 January 2024 until her disappearance. On the day of Joshlin’s disappearance, on 19 February 2024, the school did not receive any reason from her mother as to why she did not attend school.

The court has previously heard she wasn’t sent to school because she didn’t have a clean uniform.

It was only at about 5.30am on 20 February 2024 that Maart received a chilling WhatsApp message from another parent about Joshlin’s disappearance.

“Around 6.40 am, I called Kelly to enquire about Joshlin’s disappearance. Kelly started to cry and said, yes, Joshlin was missing. Through her sobbing, I asked where Joshlin was the previous day (19 February).

“The phone went dead. I called her later and again she was crying and all that she could say (was) that she had reported the case at the police station,” Maart told the court.

The case continues. DM

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