. Kelly Smith
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
A new witness has taken the stand, testifying that missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith’s mother, Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, was not where she claimed to be on the day of her daughter’s disappearance.
Kelly Zeegers, whose mother Carlien testified on Monday, recounted the night she first learned that Joshlin was missing.
Joshlin disappeared from her Middelpos home on February 19, 2024. Her mother, Kelly, her boyfriend, Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis, and their friend, Steveno ‘Steffie’ van Rhyn, face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking. Another accused, Laurentia Lombaard, turned State witness.
Smith had told police that she had been working at the Zeegers’ house on the day Joshlin vanished. However, Zeegers testified that when police asked her to review her home’s CCTV footage, she found no evidence of Smith being there that day.
Kelly Zeegers testified that Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith was supposed to clean her home on February 19 but she was not on her CCTV footage.
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“I felt something wasn’t right,” Zeegers told the Western Cape High Court, which is sitting at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Saldanha Bay.
“I checked the footage from 10am until after 2pm, but she was not there. I even looked at the footage from 18 February, she was not there either.”
Zeegers recalled that she first heard about Joshlin’s disappearance when Kelly called her, asking if the child was at a tuckshop near her home.
“I went there, but there was no one. Kelly also asked me to check if Natasha’s vehicle was there, but it wasn’t. She then told me Joshlin was gone but didn’t know where she was. I told her the shop was locked.”
Later that evening, Zeegers called Kelly again to check for updates.
“She said there was nothing, but that two kids claimed they had seen Joshlin walking into the bushes with two men. I kept calling until around 10pm. They told me they were on their way to speak to one of the men. They were also searching the house and asked me to come down, but I refused because I couldn’t leave the children alone, especially with load shedding.”
Kelly Zeegers testified that Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith was supposed to clean her home on February 19 but she was not on her CCTV footage.
Image: Mandilakhe Tshwete
Zeegers added that she later heard Smith calling out for Joshlin around midnight.
As the trial continues, more testimonies are expected to shed light on the circumstances surrounding Joshlin’s disappearance.
Cape Argus