South African Woman Who Sold Daughter To Healer For Her Eyes, Fair Skin Gets Life Term

Last Updated:May 29, 2025, 20:44 IST

Alongside the woman, her boyfriend and another man also received life terms after being convicted on kidnapping and human trafficking charges

Racquel "Kelly" Smith (R) listens to court proceedings on receiving her sentence after being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking of her missing child Joshlin Smith. (Image: RODGER BOSCH/AFP)

In a case that horrified South Africa, a woman was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for selling her six-year-old daughter. Alongside her, her boyfriend and another man also received life terms after being convicted on kidnapping and human trafficking charges.

Kelly Smith’s daugher Joshlin Smith went missing in February 2024 when she was six, sparking a nationwide police hunt in South Africa but has still not been found.

Smith — whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith — was initially a figure of sympathy when her daughter went missing, as community members rallied around her and volunteered to help the police search their poor neighbourhood of shacks close to Saldanha Bay, around 120 km north of Cape Town.

A photograph of Joshlin smiling and with her hair in pigtails was broadcast across South Africa during the search. Kelly said she had left Joshlin with her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis on the day she disappeared, but the case took a shocking twist when she was arrested.

Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life terms for human trafficking and 10 years each for kidnapping. Their sentences were read out by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports centre in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay. The trial was moved so that members of the local community could attend.

A woman testified during the trial that Kelly had told her she and the two men had sold Joshlin for around $1,000 to a traditional healer who wanted the child for her body parts. Photos showing Joshlin’s striking green eyes, broad smile and brown pigtails flooded the internet. Prosecutors alleged that Kelly sold her daughter for her eyes and fair complexion.

The judge’s verdict did not make any conclusions on who the child was sold to or exactly what happened to her, but said she had been sold for slavery or practices similar to slavery.

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

Kelly was present at the court and sat through the hour-long proceeding with an impassive gaze. The judge said the mother of three was manipulative and had shown “no indication of remorse" or concern over Joshlin’s disappearance.

The verdict drew cheers in the courtroom. Joshlin’s grandmother was also present in court in a white shirt emblazoned with images of the young girl.

Witnesses in the trial, which began in March included the girl’s teacher and a pastor, who said the mother had told him of the planned sale of her child in 2023. Police said they had extended the search beyond South Africa’s borders.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world and the kidnapping of children is on the rise. There were more than 17,000 kidnappings in South Africa in the 2023/2024 financial year, an 11 percent increase over the previous year, according to police statistics. The data does not specify the ages of the victims.

(With agency inputs)

Location :

Cape town, South Africa

First Published:

News world South African Woman Who Sold Daughter To Healer For Her Eyes, Fair Skin Gets Life Term