Mother who sold her daughter, aged 6, for £800 jailed for life
29 May 2025, 11:46
A mother has been handed a life sentence after selling her daughter to a 'healer' for 'her light eyes and skin' in South Africa.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Racquel 'Kelly' Smith, 35, was convicted of kidnapping and trafficking - but her daughter is still missing.
Joshlin Smith went missing after disappearing outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa last February.
The court heard during the six-week trial that the child was sought out by a traditional "healer", or sangoma, for her "light eyes and skin" - paying the mother just £800 (20,000 rand) for her child.
Smith was convicted alongside boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn.
"On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment," Judge Nathan Erasmus told the three accused.
Read More: Rose West 'can barely walk' and is shunned by fellow prisoners as her life behind bars is revealed
Joshlin's grandmother, Amanda Smith-Daniels, pleaded with her daughter before the sentence to "bring my [grand]child back or tell me where she is".
She told local Newzroom Afrika that "I don't feel that any sentence they get will bring my grandchild back".
"How do you sleep [and] live with yourself?" Ms Smith-Daniels asked her daughter in her victim statement on Wednesday.
Smith and her alleged accomplices chose not to take the stand or call any witnesses in their defence during the trial.
However, the courtroom heard more than 30 people testimonies about the difficult circumstances surrounding Joshlin’s life and the events leading up to her disappearance.
Lourentia Lombaard, Smith's friend and neighbour, told the court that the mother had made a confession, admitting she had done "something silly."
In the days leading up to Joshlin’s disappearance, Smith allegedly told Lombaard that she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, a traditional healer.
Lombaard said she later saw Smith pack some of Joshlin’s clothes into a black bag before heading out to meet a woman she believed was the sangoma.
According to Lombaard, Smith got into a white car with Joshlin and the sangoma, and the group then drove away
One of Joshlin’s teachers told the court that during a search for the missing girl, Smith claimed Joshlin was already “on a ship, inside a container, and they were on the way to West Africa.”
A social worker assigned to assess the accused trio wrote in a report that it would not be a “stretch to conclude that Smith is the mastermind behind the trafficking of her own daughter.”
The court also heard from a local pastor who claimed Smith spoke openly about selling her three children for roughly £827.
Smith allegedly said she would have been willing to accept even less, reportedly offering to sell Joshlin for just £200.
In March, police revealed that children’s clothing had been recovered near the informal settlement where Joshlin lived, and the items were sent for forensic testing.
Community members helping in the search said the clothing found was stained with blood, and a knife was also discovered at the scene.
Police have not released further details about the items recovered or their significance to the investigation.
Western Cape provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile told reporters during the trial that more arrests could still follow.
He added that while the investigation continues, authorities must also renew efforts to find Joshlin.
A woman believed to be the sangoma was arrested alongside the other suspects last year, but charges against her were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Sangomas are recognised under South African law through the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007 and are believed to communicate with ancestral spirits to guide healing.
