NewStats: 3,262,373 , 8,176,961 topics. Date: Monday, 02 June 2025 at 04:28 AM 4w6m33

South African Mom who sold daughter, 6, so her eyes and skin could be cut out and used for 'medicine' gets life in prison

A mom who sold her 6-year-old daughter so her skin and eyes could be cut out and used by a “traditional healer” had been sentenced to life in prison in South Africa.

Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were all handed life sentences more than a year after the mysterious disappearance of Joshlin Smith from outside her home near Cape Town.

When Joshlin first disappeared, her mother was a figure of sympathy, and pictures of the girl’s striking green eyes, pigtails and broad smile were shared across the country.



6-year-old Joshlin Smith mysteriously vanished from outside her home near Cape Town last year.

Smith showed no emotion as her sentence was handed down, bringing an end to an eight-week trial that had to be moved to a local stadium so horrified of the community could bear witness.

She itted to selling her daughter to a traditional healer, or sangoma, for 20,000 rand ($1,100), and said the girl was desired for her “eyes and skin,” a witness told the court.

Joshlin’s body has still not been found despite an extensive nationwide search since she went missing in February 2024.


The trio are believed to have sold the little girl to the healer to fund their drug addictions, the court heard.

Mom-of-three Smith was described as manipulative and had shown “no indication of remorse” or concern over her daughter’s disappearance, Judge Nathan Erasmus said in court.

All three were also sentenced to a concurrent 10 years imprisonment for kidnapping.

“I am also ordering the entry of your names to the child protection . There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,” Judge Erasmus told the defendants.

There were cheers in the courtroom as the verdict was read out.

Joshlin’s distraught grandmother, Amanda Smith Daniels, was present in court for the verdict, wearing a white shirt emblazoned with images of her granddaughter.

During the initial search for the girl, one government minister offered a one-million-rand reward ($54,000) for Joshlin’s safe return.

The girl was desired for her “eyes and skin,” a witness told the court.

But sympathy for Smith evaporated when prosecutors first alleged that she had sold her daughter to a healer.

Since the start of the trial in March, witnesses, including the girl’s former teacher and a pastor, said that Smith had told them of the planned sale of her child as far back as 2023.

The ongoing search for Joshlin has now been extended beyond South Africa’s borders, police said on Thursday.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, with soaring rates of child kidnapping.

In the last year, the Rainbow Nation saw more than 17,000 kidnappings, an 11% increase on the previous year, according to police statistics.

https://nypost.com/2025/05/29/world-news/south-african-mom-kelly-smith-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-trafficking-6-year-old-daughter-joshlin-smith/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost

Na the woman face una suppose show, not the baby.
Let's see the eyes of the criminal in the market square.

And for doing this they got 10 years?!?😡🤬
Sometimes, not every time, but sometimes:
Jungle Justice is better than court justice

All three were also sentenced to a concurrent 10 years imprisonment for kidnapping.

..... Sold her own "blood kid" probably to buy drugs.. No remorse, truly this woman is crazy..

Ok

That woman must have lived some part of her lives in Nigeria.

Nigeria use this one get hope.

Damn

Dammmn

Some people don't have any business with parenting in their lives. That has always been the mistake. Not everybody is meant to marry and have kids

BlackViper:
And for doing this they got 10 years?!?😡🤬
Sometimes, not every time, but sometimes:
Jungle Justice is better than court justice

Did you read at all

Her kid?

This case haunts me and the fact that the little girl has not been found breaks my heart

immaculatesense:
Na the woman face una suppose show, not the baby.
Let's see the eyes of the criminal in the market square.

See the demon in human skin below. Not once did she show any form of remorse during the trial. If the little girl was not her spitting image,.I would have said she was not her biological daughter. The death penalty needs to be brought back because of people like this

Only the woman's face alone is nothing but a true definition of EVIL

🌺

This lass is very beautiful,for this woman to sell her daughter she can also sell her entire family for money

South Africans are saints, they don't do such things 😆😆😆. They are just like a tribe in Nigeria

Devil herself

BlackViper:


https://nypost.com/2025/05/29/world-news/south-african-mom-kelly-smith-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-trafficking-6-year-old-daughter-joshlin-smith/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost

This is heartbreaking beyond words. As a parent, a citizen, and a human being, it's difficult to even process the horror of what happened to little Joshlin. That a mother could betray her own child in such a brutal and senseless way, driven by drugs and superstition, is a deep wound to our collective humanity.

Justice was served with the life sentences, but no verdict can bring back Joshlin or undo the pain her loved ones are facing. This case should be a wake-up call—not just about the dangers of drug abuse and harmful traditional practices, but also about the urgent need to protect vulnerable children in our communities.

We must demand stronger child protection systems, more mental health and addiction , and a zero-tolerance approach to crimes against children. Joshlin’s life mattered. Her story should never be forgotten.

Evil woman rot in jail

Sad African Woman

Samantha125

End time mom, I'm speechless

Na wa o!

The woman literally has the same eyes and skin as her daughter, at least she for sell some of her own skin na, wetin she dey do with all those plenty skin? And maybe one of her eyes.

Where are all these South African bloggers ?

Rand digital

Samantha come and see your sister o

BlackViper:
And for doing this they got 10 years?!?😡🤬
Sometimes, not every time, but sometimes:
Jungle Justice is better than court justice

I was amazed that the harshest sentence they could give them is ten years imprisonment.

.

doggedfighter:
Where are all these South African bloggers ?

Rand digital