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Joshlin Smith Case: Key State Witness Seeks Immunity After Shocking Testimony

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3 weeks ago

August 12, 2025

Chiraag

Joshlin Smith case witness, court testimony, Western Cape High Court, Saldanha kidnapping trial, witness protection, legal immunity request, Section 204 witness, courtroom scene, South African crime news, Joburg ETC

Joshlin Smith case witness asks court for immunity

In the Western Cape High Court this week, the name Laurentia Lombaard returned to the spotlight. Once an accused in the high-profile kidnapping of six-year-old Joshlin Smith, she is now the woman whose testimony helped put three others behind bars and who is asking the court to spare her from prosecution.

Her lawyer, Advocate Eben van Tonder, stood before Judge Nathan Erasmus and made the plea that Lombaard be granted immunity under Section 204, a legal provision allowing witnesses to avoid punishment in exchange for truthful testimony.

From accused to the State’s most valuable witness

Lombaard’s involvement in the case was complicated from the start. She was arrested alongside Kelly Smith, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn after Joshlin vanished from Saldanha on 19 February 2024.

Months later, she agreed to turn State witness. In doing so, she gave evidence that cracked the case wide open, revealing for the first time that Joshlin had allegedly been sold for R20,000.

The court heard that her cooperation was not without personal cost. She was uprooted from her life, placed in witness protection, and, by her lawyer’s account, faced intense scrutiny on the stand. Some discrepancies in her testimony were put down to nerves and the lingering effects of her admitted past methamphetamine use.

Testimony that shocked the courtroom

Lombaard’s account painted a disturbing picture of the days leading up to Joshlin’s disappearance. She described overhearing a conversation in which Kelly allegedly said someone “wanted Joshlin” and later detailed seeing a meeting between Kelly and a woman dressed in green, believed to be a sangoma.

From behind boulders in Middelpos, she claimed to have watched the woman hand something to Kelly, who hid it in her waistband. The following day, Lombaard testified, she saw Joshlin being loaded into the same vehicle.

Her testimony also included claims that Kelly promised to pay her R1,000 and Steveno R1,200 for their silence, but that she never saw a cent.

The case’s wider impact

The trio, Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn, were convicted and sentenced in May 2025. The court found enough corroboration, supported by circumstantial evidence, to rely on parts of Lombaard’s testimony in reaching its judgment.

Now, her lawyer argues that the role she played in securing justice for Joshlin should be enough to protect her from punishment. Whether the court agrees could set a precedent for how far South Africa is willing to go in rewarding cooperation in cases of this magnitude.

For the Saldanha community, still grappling with the horror of Joshlin’s disappearance, the immunity decision will be watched as closely as the trial itself.