'We failed' - Judge says during Kelly Smith sentencing
Western Cape High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus has said that Kelly Smith, the mother of missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith, was in desperate need of social services for a prolonged period, describing her life story as one marred by systemic failures and missed interventions.
Judge Erasmus made the remarks during the sentencing proceedings of Smith and her two co-accused, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, who were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking Joslin in February 2023.
"The evidence indicated that Miss Smith, in particular, was in need of social services for a prolonged period," Erasmus told the packed courtroom at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Saldanha Bay.
"And I wonder, when her grandmother complained in 2016 to the Department of Social Development for a protection order, what access did she [Smith] have when she sought support from the justice system? We failed."
Court proceedings have revealed a harrowing account of Smith’s troubled past, starting from adolescence.
She reportedly began abusing drugs at the age of 15 and often became violent toward her family members while under the influence.
Her maternal grandmother, who raised her, had asked social workers and the courts for intervention as early as 2016.
A social worker’s report prepared for the court painted a grim picture of Smith’s addiction.
It noted that she was homeless at times, lived in a shelter for abused women, and failed to register Joslin’s birth within the legally mandated 30-day period, waiting five months instead.
"Her life was in chaos," the report stated. "She was unable to provide stable care for Joshlin from the beginning."
Judge Erasmus also referenced the testimony of family friend Natasha Andrews, who had cared for Joshlin when Smith was in rehabilitation.
Andrews and her husband had considered adopting Joshlin, but the plan fell through in 2018 due to a lack of parental consent.
"We could have provided for her better than her mother," Andrews said during the trial.
Despite the failed adoption, Joshlin remained close to the Andrews family, visiting on weekends and holidays and joining them on family trips.
"This case is not only about justice for Joshlin," Erasmus said. "But also about reflecting on how society, through its institutions, failed to protect her from the very beginning."
Joshlin Smith's mother and her accomplices, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Ryhn, were all handed life sentences for the disappearance of the little girl.
ALSO READ
