Two years without Joshlin: The question Saldanha Bay still cannot answer

Two years have passed, but in Saldanha Bay, time feels frozen on the evening of 19 February 2024.

It was just after 5pm when six-year-old Joshlin Smith was last seen outside her home in Middelpos. The Grade 1 pupil at Diazville Primary School, a quiet child with striking green eyes who loved music and dancing, seemed to vanish into thin air.

Since then, her name has echoed far beyond this small West Coast fishing town. And yet, despite arrests, convictions and life sentences, one haunting question remains: Where is Joshlin?

A little girl who became a national symbol

In the early days, the search for Joshlin gripped South Africa. Volunteers poured into Saldanha Bay from surrounding towns and cities. Community halls became coordination points. Prayer circles formed. Social media timelines filled with her photo.

Her grandmother, Lauretta Yon, described her as gentle and kind, the type of child who kept to herself but lit up when music played. For the family, the plea has always been simple: bring her home. Whether the truth is good or bad, they say they need spiritual closure.

But closure has been painfully elusive.

Arrests, anger and a town on edge

Just a month after Joshlin disappeared, police arrested her mother, Kelly Smith, along with her boyfriend, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn. A fourth accused was briefly arrested before charges were withdrawn. Later, another woman, Laurentia “Renz” Lombaard, was taken into custody.

The arrests shook the community to its core.

Court appearances at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court drew hundreds of residents. Some came for answers. Others came in anger. Many simply could not believe that people within Joshlin’s own circle were implicated.

There were delays and postponements that stretched patience thin. Then, in October 2024, the case took a dramatic turn when Lombaard became a state witness.

Her testimony confirmed what prosecutors had suspected: that Joshlin had allegedly been sold for R20,000, with the money meant to be shared among those involved.

The revelation sent shockwaves across the country.

A landmark trial in Saldanha

The case was eventually transferred to the Western Cape High Court. In March 2025, proceedings began at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Saldanha, effectively bringing the High Court to the community.

On 2 May 2025, Kelly Smith, Appollis and van Rhyn were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking in persons. When the verdict was read, cheers erupted in the packed hall. For many, it felt like justice at least in part.

On 29 May, the trio were sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking, with an additional six years for kidnapping.

In August 2025, Lombaard was granted indemnity by Judge Nathan Erasmus in the Western Cape High Court for her cooperation as a state witness.

Legally, the case reached its conclusion.

Emotionally, it did not.

Justice without answers

Convictions brought accountability, but not the one thing the family and community still desperately want: Joshlin herself.

During a recent visit to Saldanha Bay, residents spoke about how the case has permanently altered the town’s sense of safety.

Jocretia Valentine, a local resident, described the lingering fear. She said the community has been left scarred, and trust has been deeply shaken. Parents are more protective. Children are watched more closely. A shadow remains.

While those convicted are behind bars, hope stubbornly survives. Many still pray that Joshlin will be found alive.

The investigation continues

According to Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut, the South African Police Service has not closed the file.

The disappearance of Joshlin Smith remains under active investigation, and detectives continue to follow up on all leads until a meaningful conclusion is reached.

In other words, the search is not officially over.

But as time stretches on, reality becomes harder to ignore. Cases involving child trafficking are notoriously complex, often stretching beyond provincial and even national borders. The absence of physical evidence has made this case especially challenging.

A broader reckoning

Joshlin’s disappearance has also forced uncomfortable conversations about child vulnerability, poverty and exploitation in South Africa.

Trafficking in persons is not a distant crime that only happens in far-off places. It is woven into communities, sometimes hidden in plain sight. Joshlin’s case became a brutal reminder of that truth.

For Saldanha Bay, it is no longer just a headline. It is a wound.

The fishing boats still go out each morning. School bells still ring at Diazville Primary. Life, in many ways, continues. But there is an emptiness, a sense that something precious was taken and never returned.

Will we ever find her?

Two years later, the town is left with a paradox: there has been justice, but there has been no resolution.

Will new evidence emerge? Will someone talk? Will a breakthrough come from an unexpected lead?

No one can say for certain.

What is clear is this: Joshlin Smith is not forgotten. Her name still surfaces in conversations. Her face still appears in posts shared online. Her story still matters.

And until she is found or until the full truth is uncovered, Saldanha Bay will continue to live with a question that refuses to fade.

{Source: IOL}

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