South Africa

South Africa, Maverick News

Saldanha Bay mothers speak of their fear since Joshlin Smith went missing

Carlien Zeegers, at whose home Kelly Smith did housework, says she wishes that the Lord would return Joshlin, alive or dead. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

By Vincent Cruywagen

10 Apr 2025

More than a year has passed since Joshlin Smith went missing from Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay. Local mothers still live in fear.

When the Joshlin Smith trial began in Saldanha Bay at the beginning of March 2025, residents flocked to the court hearings hoping to hear where the little girl was.

More than a month later, while Joshlin’s mother Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn continue to face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking, there have been no revelations about Joshlin’s whereabouts, except allegations that she was sold to a sangoma for R20,000.

Only a few people now attend the trial, but the unsettling question remains – are those who took her still on the street and who might be the next victim?

Daily Maverick spoke to local mothers to ask them how Joshlin’s disappearance had affected how they feel about the safety of their children.

‘If Joshlin can disappear, so can my child’

Mandy van Rooy says Joshlin’s disappearance had a significant impact because parents realised they needed to know where their children were playing and with whom. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Mandy van Rooy, who was born in Saldanha and now lives in Vredenburg, is a church leader who participates in a variety of community activities, such as connecting with youth and survivors of domestic abuse.

She also participates in the My Child is Your Child group. This organisation was formed when Bradley Douw went missing on 14 December 2023. His remains were discovered in February 2025.

“As a mother of two children, Joshlin’s disappearance instilled a lot of fear and alerted me to the possibility that if Joshlin may disappear, so can my child.

“Joshlin’s disappearance had a significant impact because parents realised, I need to know where my child is, and you should also be aware when you are inside your home, where my child is,” she said.

‘The pain of not having closure’

Cillian O‘Neal says Joshlin’s story emphasises the rarely discussed problem of human trafficking. In the Middelpos informal settlement, where Joshlin went missing on 19 February 2024, this was not widely discussed. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Cillian O’Neal is the mother of two sons, aged 30 and 27, and recently became a grandmother to a 9-month-old baby.

She is actively involved with children at Kids Church and has been organising a kids’ holiday club in Saldanha Bay for the past 10 years for children from White City, Middelpos and Diazville.

“A year later, on 19 February 2025, the sadness was still palpable when we visited with the teachers at Diazville Primary School, where Joshlin attended … the pain of not having closure.

“The disappearance of Joshlin highlighted an issue that I believe is not frequently discussed: human trafficking. In a small town like Middelpos, informal settlements are rarely discussed. Human trafficking is being exposed, and perhaps this is a wake-up call not only for Saldanha, but for South Africa as a whole, because human trafficking is a genuine problem,” she said.

The discussion, she said, was about how to safeguard children from “prowlers”. “I dubbed them vultures”.

The solution was multifaceted, she emphasised, saying that it began in the family. The first protection had to be in the house, and community members needed to look out for one another’s children.

‘We had restless nights’

Since the disappearance of Joshlin Smith on 19 February 2024, Lizal Jonas has been an ‘overprotective’ mother. Her children don’t go anywhere without her. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Lizal Jonas, from Diazville, is a mother of two who attends the trial whenever possible. Joshlin’s absence, said Jonas, had a significant impact on her as an “overprotective” mother.

“As it is now, my children don’t go out without me, and there is always somebody at home when I’m at work,” she says.

Jonas was one of the mothers who participated in the search for Joshlin from the day she disappeared.

“We spent two weeks searching for Joshlin and had restless nights. My greatest concern is that my child, my neighbor’s child, in the Western Cape or any part of the country, will go missing because … it is still a mystery what happened to Joshlin, how she disappeared, who bought her and where she ended up.

“To live in Saldanha and provide a safe environment for our children, we as mommies need to get rid of the gangs and jailbirds who are being freed, because they have made the area very dangerous and unsafe,” she said.

‘We pray someone will speak up’

Grandmother Katriena Lamberts says she attends the Joshlin Smith kidnapping and human trafficking trial because she wants to hear the truth about what happened to the child. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Katriena Lamberts, a grandmother, is one of a group of people permitted to pray in front of the Saldanha Bay Multipurpose Centre, where the Joshlin Smith trial is being held, each morning before proceedings begin.

Lamberts says Joshlin’s disappearance is highly sensitive, hurtful and worrying, and everyone wants to know what occurred.

“As a mother and grandmother, it is a real concern. I’m attending the trial to learn what happened to Joshlin. I’m a member of a prayer group that meets every morning in front of the courthouse, praying that justice will win, that the truth about Joshlin will be revealed, and that someone will speak up and tell the court what happened to the child,” she said.

‘Shivers down my spine’

Candice Samuels is concerned about the safety of her child and her neighbours’ children in Saldanha Bay. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

She said that no matter what Joshlin’s mother was going through, it “doesn't give any mother the right to purportedly sell her child”.

“My children are everything to me, and I will never do such a thing. I will go out of my way for them. The mothers I spoke with are still concerned since Joshlin has not been discovered and the perpetrators who allegedly snatched her are still alive and roaming among us.

“Children do not want to be locked inside a house all day; they want to play outside with their friends, and it sends shivers down my spine when I come outside and don’t see them for a few seconds,” she said.

“That is the fear I, as a mother, live with every day,” Samuels said.

‘Joshlin’s disappearance changed my life’

Jomecia Adams says Joshlin’s disappearance has caused great fear, to the point where mothers are afraid of cars stopping near the school at the end of classes. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Jomecia Adams said Joshlin’s disappearance had caused immeasurable fear, to the point she, as a mother, is afraid of cars stopping near her children’s school at the end of the school day.

“It’s simply too much. My child is turning six and attending Grade R. How overprotective must a mother be? I’m especially concerned about the cars that have stopped in front of the school. I need to pick her up from school and take her home.

“I have four children, and while we as mothers are all hurt as a result of the Joshlin event, no mom should be accused of selling her child. As long as Joshlin is not found, I will never forget what happened to her. It is a never-ending nightmare,” Adams said.

Getting up early in the morning, walking her children to school and then fetching them after school has now become a routine for Adams.

“Joshlin’s disappearance changed my life.”

Carlien Zeegers

Carlien Zeegers, who employed Kelly Smith for housework, says she wishes that the Lord would return Joshlin, alive or dead. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

Carlien Zeegers, from Tabakbaai, employed Joshlin’s mother and provided daily meals for her and her children.

“All I beg is that the Lord restore Joshlin, both living and dead. I am a mother, and I don’t know where [Joshlin] sleeps, what she eats, or drinks. Joshlin was one of the children [who] visited my house every day.

“Hardship brought Kelly to me, and I could only reach out to her children because I knew their situation. Joshlin had a way when they came to my house, had a way of coming up to rest against my chest first,” she said.

Zeegers said she knew Kelly had a problem with drugs but said, “I’m not sure what went wrong this time.”

She has visited Kelly in prison and begged her to say where Joshlin is. “Kelly said she doesn’t know.”

“My hands are cut off,” she said.

Zeegers wants to visit Kelly once more, hoping to receive the answer everyone wants to hear – where is Joshlin? DM.

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