Accused in Joshlin Smith Case Claims Police Torture During Interrogation

One of the accused in the disappearance of Joshlin Smith, Steveno van Rhyn, has alleged that police tortured him during questioning, nearly killing him. He maintains that he never saw the missing child on the day she vanished.

His lawyer, Nobahle Mkabayi, read his plea explanation in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday. Van Rhyn, along with Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis and Kelly Smith, pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and human trafficking. The trial is being held at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Saldanha.

Van Rhyn, a cellphone repairman, described his close friendship with Appollis, admitting they often used drugs together. He also knew Kelly Smith through her relationship with Boeta and was aware she lived with her three children.

According to his account, on February 19, 2024, he visited Boeta’s house twice, looking to buy drugs. During his first visit, he found Laurentia “Renz” Lombaard, another former accused in the case, but no drugs were available. Later that day, he returned, and Renz provided a smoking pipe while Boeta added mandrax. Van Rhyn stated that at no point did he see Kelly’s children.

After leaving the house again to sell a microwave, he returned to negotiate the purchase of Renz’s cellphone for R50. He then overheard Renz calling Joshlin to check on her sleeping baby before leaving.

He continued fixing phones outside Boeta’s house while Boeta left to fetch money from a sale. Around 5 pm, Kelly returned home, and later, the three of them went to refill a gas cylinder before buying and smoking drugs together.

Van Rhyn claims that about an hour later, Kelly began calling for Joshlin but received no response. He reminded her that Renz had earlier called Joshlin to check on her baby. After searching the area with no success, he and Boeta left Kelly behind to continue looking while they went to buy more drugs.

On March 4, 2024, while hitchhiking to Saldanha, van Rhyn accepted a lift from a white double cab bakkie. Upon arrival at their stop, he was told to remain in the vehicle, realizing that the occupants were armed police officers. They drove him to Jacobs Bay Beach, where another bakkie followed.

According to his testimony, police assaulted him, pinched his testicles, and forced a gun into his mouth, threatening to kill him and dispose of his body. He claimed that only the intervention of a passerby, who accused the officers of trespassing, halted the attack.

Van Rhyn stated he was then taken to the Sea Board Offices, where the assault resumed. Officers allegedly handcuffed him, forced him to remove his sweater, and suspended him mid-air while covering his head with a plastic bag. He described the experience as excruciating, saying he nearly suffocated multiple times.

“They slightly pushed my forehead to make me swing. The pain was unbearable. I knew if I didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, they would kill me,” he said.

He further claimed that during a medical examination, police warned him not to disclose details of his injuries, or he would be killed.

Appollis, who also pleaded not guilty, admitted he had been in the presence of Kelly’s children on the day Joshlin disappeared. He claimed he made them sandwiches before Kelly left for work, later purchasing and smoking drugs.

He too alleged police torture, saying officers handcuffed him, hung him mid-air with a plastic bag over his head, and told him, “Today, you’ll die.” He eventually confessed to what they wanted to hear to stop the assault.

Meanwhile, Kelly Smith’s plea explanation raised contradictions. She initially claimed Joshlin was home sick, but later, she said her daughter had been playing outside. She also admitted to borrowing R50, returning home at midday, and smoking drugs with Boeta.

Her statements about when and how she reported her daughter missing also conflicted with previous testimony. Initially, police records indicated she contacted them around 9 pm, but her statement suggested she was actively searching earlier in the evening with neighbors.

As the trial unfolds, the defense and prosecution are expected to scrutinize these inconsistencies. Joshlin Smith remains missing since February 19, 2024.

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