{"id":8915,"date":"2025-05-29T12:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T12:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=8915"},"modified":"2025-05-29T12:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T12:04:14","slug":"life-in-prison-for-south-african-mother-who-sold-her-missing-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=8915","title":{"rendered":"Life in prison for South African mother who sold her missing daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>In a case that gripped South Africa and sparked nationwide outrage, a high court on Thursday sentenced Racquel \u201cKelly\u201d Smith to life in prison for trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, who vanished in February 2024 from the town of Middelpos, Saldanha Bay.<\/p>\n<p>Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking the child to a traditional healer for R20,000 (about $1,100). A witness told the court that Smith admitted to selling Joshlin, allegedly due to the child&#8217;s desirable &#8220;eyes and skin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite widespread searches and national pleas for help, Joshlin has never been found. The child&#8217;s disappearance stunned the country, with many initially sympathising with Smith, who claimed she had left Joshlin in Appollis\u2019s care the day she vanished.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH: Racquel \u201cKelly\u201d Smith, Steveno van Rhyn, Jacquen \u201cBoeta\u201d Appolis and Lourentia \u201cRenz\u201d Lombaard step into the dock in the Vredenburg Magistrates Court. pic.twitter.com\/UaTG3Jlpak<br \/>\n\u2014 Cape Times (@CapeTimesSA) July 15, 2024<\/p>\n<p>High court judge Nathan Erasmus said drug use by the trio was no excuse for their actions and handed down the maximum sentence, stating: &#8220;There is nothing redeeming here, nothing deserving of leniency.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Each of the accused received an additional 10 years in prison for kidnapping. The case remains a painful chapter for South Africa, with public calls for continued efforts to locate the missing girl.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a case that gripped South Africa and sparked nationwide outrage, a high court on Thursday sentenced Racquel \u201cKelly\u201d Smith to life in prison for trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith, who vanished in February 2024 from the town of Middelpos, Saldanha Bay. Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}