Joshlin Smith’s mother denies being calm and seemingly unconcerned

Day two of the kidnapping and human trafficking trial of Joshlin Smith on the Cape west coast saw her mother — accused of kidnapping and human trafficking — challenge police testimony about her calm demeanour while searching for her daughter.

Constable Yanga Gongotha, the first witness in the circuit court sitting of the Western Cape high court in Saldanha Bay, testified on Monday that Racquel Chantel Smith told him her boyfriend had been looking after the child, but both were missing when she got home.

When they eventually found boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis, the constable and his colleague — first to respond to the missing person complaint in Middelpos — said Smith immediately asked if he had refilled a gas container and not about the whereabouts of her then six-year-old daughter.

Joshlin went missing on February 19 2024 in what the state alleges was a plot hatched by her mother, boyfriend and co-accused Steveno van Rhyn. They have pleaded not guilty.

During cross-examination on Tuesday, defence attorney Rinesh Sivnarain denied her client had asked Appollis about the gas refill and said she had, in fact, inquired about Joshlin.

Sivnarain also denied earlier evidence by the constable about being flagged down by two women, one of them Smith, who appeared to have emerged from a house where the occupants were having a good time. Testimony about loud music coming from the home was described by the defence as having come from a passing taxi.

The defence also asked why a police statement compiled by Gongotha’s colleague about the incident was so similar to his.

The court heard that Appollis did not co-operate with the two police constables when they questioned him.

While a statement was taken from Smith, her boyfriend “looked as if he was under pressure and afraid”. 

The trial continues. 

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