Attorney for mother of Joslin Smith challenges police credibility during trial – The Mail & Guardian

A second police witness on Tuesday told the court that Kelly Smith’s partner was uncooperative when questioned. (Screenshot of trial proceedings)

The attorney for Kelly Smith, mother of the still missing seven-year-old Joslin Smith, on Tuesday appeared to try to paint a picture of an incompetent police investigator who may have coordinated his testimony with a colleague before appearing in the Western Cape high court sitting in Saldanha Bay.

Day two of the trial started with the cross-examination of Rural Flying Squad member Constable Yanga Gongotha, who, together with Officer Zuko Kobese, first attended to the call about the missing child on 19 February 2024.

Gongotha told the court on Monday that Smith had shown scant emotion when relaying the details about her missing daughter on the night of her disappearance. 

He inferred she appeared to be at a party when he and Kobese found her, and was more interested in the whereabouts of her partner, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, who had been looking after Joslin on the day of her disappearance, than her child.

Gongotha testified on Monday that Smith had asked Appollis whether he had filled a gas bottle at the home they shared in the Tsitsiratsitsi informal settlement in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, instead of asking him about the child.

Smith, Appollis and mutual friend Steveno van Rhyn, who are being charged under common purpose, on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Last year, the state withdrew charges against the fourth accused, Lourentia Lombaard, who has turned state witness.

In its indictment, the state alleges that Smith “communicated during August 2023 her plan to have her children be taken away or sold. The plan was for this to happen in January or February 2024.”

Acting for Smith, accused three, attorney Rinesh Sivnarain asked Gongotha on Tuesday to confirm that he had made his statement about the night of the disappearance “in your own words”, to which the constable answered yes.

Gongotha’s statement was only made on 18 February this year, said Sivnarain, who then asked: “Prior to making the statement, did you make use of any source to refresh your memory?”

Gongotha said he had used his station’s missing person’s register, which was standard protocol.

“Did you speak to anyone? Your colleague or van crew? Did you discuss what happened on the 19th before you made your statement?” asked Sivnarain.

He added: “Would it surprise you if I put it to you that your colleague, Mr Kobese, has a statement that is almost identical to yours?”

As an example, said Sivnarain, paragraph three of both statements were “exactly the same, except that where you say ‘I’, Kobese says ‘we’”.

Sivnarain also tried to refute Gongotha’s earlier testimony, in which he said that when he met Smith at the home of one of Joslin’s friends, she appeared nonplussed, and there was a party atmosphere, with loud music playing in the background.  

“My client says she met you at a boy’s house who she received information her daughter Joslin was last seen with.”

“That is not what she told us,” replied Gongotha, who was testifying with the help of an interpreter.

“I am further instructed that when you arrived, [Smith] was in the company of two other people.”

“No, that is not correct,” said Gongotha.

“My instructions are that when you arrived with your colleague, the parent of the house that she had been at, looking for Joslin, arrived in his taxi with his friends, and they had loud music playing in the taxi.”

“That is not correct,” said Gongotha.

“I am instructed that that is the music you heard, it came from the taxi.”

“That is not correct,” said Gongotha.

Sivnarain said Smith would deny asking Appollis about filling a gas bottle when she first saw him. “I am instructed that immediately upon seeing accused number one, she inquired from him about Joslin’s whereabouts.”

“That is not correct,” said Gongotha.

The second witness was Kobese, an officer with 10 years under his belt, who also testified using a translator. 

Asked by Judge Nathan Erasmus whether he was willing to have his face shown, given that the trial was being broadcast live, Kobese said he would prefer to remain off camera. The Saldanah community in which he still worked viewed him as “someone who is inciting other people”, he said.

Kobese was the driver of the vehicle in which Gongotha was the passenger. His testimony was led by state prosecutor Aradhana Heermun.

Asked about Smith’s demeanour when she spoke about Joslin being missing, Kobese replied only that she had “given us enough information”.

According to Kobese, it was a man who knew the family who eventually led them to a shack at the back of a house where Appollis was found, his whereabouts allegedly being unknown by Smith prior to this.

Said Kobese: “[Appollis] was coming out of the shack. We asked him about Joslin and he said that he last saw her playing not far from where she lived in Middelpos, with other children.”

Smith and Appollis were “very happy” to see each other, he said. “We could see [Kelly’s] eyes were a little bit full of tears, appearing like she was happy to see her lover.”

Heermun asked whether Smith had asked Appollis about Joslin.

“She never posed any questions in connection with the child,” said Kobese, adding that Smith then spoke about seeing Appollis earlier in the day, at lunch.

She had not offered up this information earlier, said Kobese.

“She told us she went to the house as she wanted to see if her boyfriend did pick up the gas and have it filled.”

He said Smith and Appollis spoke in Afrikaans for a short time, and he was unable to understand what was being said.

Asked by Heermun what his “observations” about Appollis were at this time, Kobese responded: “He appeared to be not giving cooperation in as far as our questions. Every question we asked we had to ask more than once before we got an answer.”