On March 7 2024 Joslin Smith’s Mother Kelly Smith and her boyfriend appeared with two others at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s court to face charges in relation to the disappearance of 6 year old girl Joslin.
What happened to Joslin?
Joslin is a 6 year old girl from Western cape who suspiciously disappeared nearly from her hometown near Saldanha Bay in Cape Town almost three weeks ago on 19 February 2024. Despite intense investigation by police and help from citizens, the young girl has yet to be found.
Joslin’s Mother Racquel Chantel Smith, Known as Kelly smith, claims she left the child with her boyfriend on the day of her disappearance.
On Saturday 02 March 2024, police reported that the child’s bloody clothing had been found near the shacks where Joslin lived.
Joslin Smith’s mother appears among 3 others to face charges of human trafficking
On 7 March 2024, Raquel “Kelly” Smith appeared alongside her boyfriend and two other accused to face charges of kidnaping and human trafficking.
After the news Joslin’s disappearance broke , Kelly Smith’s neighbours reportedly accused the mother of selling her own child.
On Wednesday 07 March 224she appeared in court along side her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, the boyfriends friend Steveno van Rhyn and a female friend Phumza Sigaqa.
The four accused did not enter into a plea and they will remain in custody until their second court appearance which has been set for the 13 March.
Joslin Smith’s grandmother pleads with Kelly Smith to tell the truth
It appears that neighbours and the court are not the only ones who suspect Kelly Smith’s involvement in the disappearance of her young child. Kelly Smith’s mother, Joslin’s grandmother, plead with Kelly smith to give police any information she has. Joslin’s grandmother said:
“She must tell the truth on where Joslin is, that’s all we want, irrespective of the condition she might be in.”
Children go missing in South Africa
According to Missing Children, the last starts reported by the South African Police Service in 2013, revealed that children go missing daily in South Africa, in fact a child goes missing every 5 hours in South Africa. Additionally, 23% of children who go missing are either never found or found dead while 77% are found and returned.
While police continue the investigation, south African’s are encouraged to keep looking out and sharing any information that might help.
Joslin Smith case proves danger isn’t always the stranger
Joslin Smith’s case reveals a scary but prevalent fact that human trafficking and other forms abuse are not always strange men in vans with tinted windows, sometimes it is close friends, family members and even parents who are involved. So while we can teach children boundaries, saying no and concepts like stranger danger, we have yet to find a solution for abuse that happens closer to home.
According to the International Organization for Migration , almost half of all identified child trafficking cases begin with the involvement of family members in some capacity and children are primarily sold for for financial benefit.
The question remains whether children will ever be safe, especially in South Africa, when it is not just strangers children have to be cautious or afraid of.