Joshlin Smith trial: Kelly Smith denies neglecting eldest child due to drug abuse
Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and his friend, Stevano van Rhyn are accused of selling Joshlin Smith, to an unknown woman in February 2024.
Missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith's mother, Kelly Smith, in the Western Cape High Court for a pre-trial hearing on 29 February 2025. Picture: Carlo Petersen/EWN
CAPE TOWN - Kidnapping and human trafficking accused Kelly Smith has denied neglecting her eldest child due to drug abuse, before the birth of her missing daughter Joshlin Smith.
Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and his friend, Stevano van Rhyn, are accused of selling the little girl to an unknown woman in February 2024.
They are on trial in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Bay Multi-Purpose centre.
Defence attorney Rinesh Sivnarain questioned the State witness, social worker Siliziwe Mbambo, about her testimony on Wednesday.
Sivnarain, who represents Kelly Smith, told Mbambo the information she shared about her client neglecting her eldest child prior to Joshlin's birth, was not factual.
Mbambo told the court the information came from files compiled by social workers before her involvement in the case.
Sivnarain said Smith approached social services for help in 2018, because she was homeless at the time and needed to find accommodation for her and her child.
Mbambo told the court Smith's grandmother agreed to take care of the child, while Smith was booked into a shelter in Vredenburg.