In a shocking case that has stunned South Africa, mother Racquel “Kelly” Smith, 34, was sentenced to life in prison for selling her six-year-old daughter Joshlin Smith into sex slavery. Her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn were given the same sentences. Both were also sentenced to a further 10 years for kidnapping. The trial took place on May 29, 2025, in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, where the trial had been conducted in a sports center to provide space for the community to attend.
Joshlin vanished in February 2024, with searches conducted across the country and appeals to the public. At first, perceived as a distraught mother, Smith’s story was discredited as more than 30 witnesses took the stand at trial. Testimony emerged that Smith plotted the sale of her daughter for around 20,000 rand (around \\$1,100) to a traditional healer, or “sangoma,” who supposedly wanted the child for ritualistic use because of her bright green eyes and light-colored skin.
Judge Nathan Erasmus, presiding over the case, highlighted the three’s absence of remorse and brushed aside the use of drugs as a mitigating circumstance. According to him, the crime was premeditated and greed-fueled with nothing redeeming about it to justify leniency. Joshlin is still missing after extensive investigations, and the authorities are still appealing for information on her location.
The case has evoked national outrage, with the widespread problems of ritualistic crimes and child trafficking in South Africa coming to the fore. The community members, who had earlier gathered to sympathize with Smith, were shocked and betrayed upon hearing of her complicity. The courtroom was said to have cheered upon the pronouncement of the sentence, testifying to a public clamor for justice and closure in this tragic scenario.
