South African Mother Sentenced to Life in Prison for Selling Her 6-Year-Old Daughter

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A South African woman has been sentenced to life in prison for selling her 6-year-old daughter, whose disappearance in early 2024 shocked the nation and triggered a massive police search.

Racquel Chantel Smith, widely known as Kelly Smith, was sentenced Thursday alongside her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn. All three received life sentences for human trafficking and an additional 10 years each for kidnapping.

The sentencing was handed down by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports center in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay. The trial was relocated there to allow members of the local community to attend.

Joshlin Smith, the child at the center of the case, went missing in February 2024 at the age of six. Her disappearance prompted a nationwide search, with police and volunteers combing through sand dunes near her family’s impoverished neighborhood of shacks about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Town. Her photo, showing her smiling with pigtails, was shared widely across South African media.

Initially, Kelly Smith was seen as a grieving mother and received widespread community support. However, the investigation took a dark turn when she was arrested and later charged with trafficking her daughter.

During the trial, a witness testified that Smith had confessed to selling Joshlin for approximately $1,000 to a traditional healer who allegedly wanted the child for her body parts. While the court did not confirm the specific buyer or the full circumstances of the transaction, Judge Erasmus stated in his ruling that the child had been sold “for slavery or practices similar to slavery.”

Joshlin has still not been found.

The case has drawn intense public interest and renewed calls for stronger measures against human trafficking and crimes involving children in South Africa.