By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A South African national, Kelly Smith, whose six-year-old daughter went missing over a year ago, has appeared in court in connection with her kidnapping.
Smith, accused of masterminding the abduction of her daughter, Joshlin, was arrested alongside her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their friend, Steveno van Rhyn, after the girl disappeared from outside Smith’s home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February last year.
Despite an extensive and highly publicised search, Joshlin remains missing, sending shockwaves across South Africa.
Smith was arraigned on Monday in a trial scheduled to run from 3–28 March at the Saldanha Multi-Purpose Centre, which has been repurposed into a high court specifically for the case.
A judge presiding over the case earlier this year explained that the location was chosen to “ensure the community has access” to proceedings throughout the marathon trial.
All three accused have pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking and kidnapping.
Ms Smith initially claimed that Joshlin had gone missing after she left her in Mr Appollis’s care.
However, prosecutors later accused her of having “sold, delivered, or exchanged” the six-year-old and misleading authorities about her disappearance.
Following an intensive, nationwide search, attention shifted to Ms Smith when her friend and former co-accused, Lorentia Lombaard, became a state witness, according to local media reports.
The country’s Sports Minister, Gayton McKenzie, had offered a reward of one million rand (£42,500; $54,000) for anyone with information leading to Joshlin’s safe return.
