Former accused turned State witness is set to continue her testimony in the Joshlin Smith trial after revealing several shocking incidents last week.
Lourentia Lombaard told the court she overheard Smith’s plan to sell Joshlin to a sangoma before witnessing the alleged incident. Lombaard said that the day before Joshlin went missing, she watched Smith take Joshlin to a white car, where they met an unknown woman who gave Smith a small package. Lombaard told the court Smith later confessed to selling Joshlin to a sangoma for R20,000.
She said Smith offered her R1,000 to keep quiet, while the rest of the money would be split between herself and her boyfriend Appollis. Lombaard said she accepted the offer, but Smith never gave them any money. Lombaard claims that on the day Joshlin went missing, Smith took Joshlin to meet the same woman and later returned to report her missing.
Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis, and Stevano van Rhyn face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking. They are on trial in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Bay multi-purpose centre.