Joslin Smith disappearance trial begins
The trial into the 2024 disappearance case of six-year-old Joslin Smith is expected to begin on Monday in the Circuit High Court in Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape.
Her mother, Kelly Smith, and two co-accused are facing charges of kidnapping and trafficking.
This after Joslin mysteriously disappeared on February 19, last year, in Saldanha Bay, from her home in the Middlepos informal settlement.
She was in the care of her mother's boyfriend, Jacquen Appolis, when she went missing.
Following their court appearance last month, the trio will be transferred from Pollsmoor to the Malmesbury Correctional Centre to prepare for their trial.
Judge Nathan Erasmus has allowed the media to cover the trial with strict restrictions, including not capturing state witnesses, the accused, or their counsel.
It has been a year since Joslin Smith went missing, and despite extensive search efforts and an ongoing investigation, she has still not been found.
During their last court appearance, the High Court Judge said decisions had to be made to have the Joslin Smith trial as a circuit matter.
This is because the community of Saldanha Bay and surrounding areas have shown interest in the court matter.
"That community has got a substantial interest in the matter and would like to attend, and the access to justice being a fundamental principle, we would obviously need to accommodate that factor, and for that reason, the matter will be heard in an appropriate forum in what I understand to be the Saldanha area.
"I am further informed that the venue will have to be either a municipal town hall, for that there has been provisional permission given by the municipality, but the appropriateness of that venue for a number of reasons, adequacy of the hearing of the matter, the security aspects for both the accused, for all concerned, and the adequacy to in fact proceed as a trial must all be established.
"Furthermore, that will require, in all likelihood, the judge allocated to the matter, together with relevant members of the OCJ, court manager, and yourselves as interested counsel, to attend what you could call a demarcation inspection.
"We are dealing with human trafficking and kidnapping charge of a young child, a young little girl. In the absence of any further charges or amendments by the state, we must presume that little Joslin is still alive."
The trial is set to run in Saldanha from Monday until the 28th of March.
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