Police alerted ‘7 hours after mother noticed Joshlin Smith wasn’t home’

In a statement given to police on the day Joshlin Smith went missing, her mother, Racquel Smith, better known as Kelly, claimed that when she returned home from work at 1.50pm, she noticed Joshlin was missing.

A police witness testifying in the human trafficking and kidnapping case, however, said the SAPS was notified about the missing child only at 9.20pm on the night of 19 February 2024, more than seven hours after Smith noticed that her daughter, six years old at the time, was not at home. 

This was revealed during the second day of the trial of Smith and her two co-accused in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Bay Multipurpose Centre before Judge Nathan Erasmus on Tuesday, 4 March 2025.

Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and human trafficking charges. The trio face a minimum term of life if they are convicted of human trafficking.

Read more: Joshlin Smith trial — mother ‘failed to reveal boyfriend’s location, leaving police scrambling’

As the trial advances, the prosecution will undoubtedly want to know why it took so long to lay the missing persons complaint.

The information came to light during the testimony of Constable Luzuko Kobesi, the second out of 89 scheduled witnesses. Kobesi followed his colleague, Constable Yanga Gongotha, who told the court on Monday how he and Kobesi began a frenzied hunt for the missing Joshlin.

Kobesi took the stand after the accused’s counsel, Fanie Harmse for Appollis, Nobohle Mkabayi for Van Rhyn and Rinesh Sivnarain for Smith, did not have copies of their clients’ plea explanations ready to hand over to the prosecution on Tuesday.

The State alleges that Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn “sold, delivered or exchanged” Joshlin, a Grade 1 learner at Diazville Primary who went missing from the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay, and that Smith allegedly orchestrated her daughter’s sale and lied about her disappearance.

Smith’s statement to police on 19 February 2024 was read into the record on Tuesday.

This statement was made late in the evening at the Middelpos informal settlement where Smith resided. The statement was taken down by Kobesi, who said Appollis was standing close to her at the time. 

Smith stated that on 19 February 2024, she left her home around 8am, leaving her three children, including Joshlin, with Appollis. According to Smith, one of the minor children was absent from school due to illness. She said she had left Joshlin at home with Appollis.

Read more: State details how Joshlin Smith’s mother orchestrated human trafficking sale as family marks her seventh birthday

“At about 1.50pm I returned home from work. My boyfriend Jacquen was not at home and I only found two children at home. I asked them where Joshlin is and they said they don’t know.

“I went out to look for her and the father was also looking for the child,” her statement read.

After 9pm, Smith flagged down a patrolling police vehicle and informed them that Joshlin was missing.

“We received the complaint about the missing child at 9.20 pm on 19 February 2024,” said Kobesi.

The complaint was shared on the police radio, 40 minutes before load shedding in the Saldanha area began at 10pm. The search was hampered because the street lights were out.

Accused’s demeanour