‘You won’t be forgotten’: Two years on Joshlin Smith still missing
· Citizen
There are still many unanswered questions two years after Joshlin Smith, who was six at the time, went missing in Saldanha on 19 February, 2024.
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Joshlin’s mother, Kelly Smith, and her co-accused, Jacquin Appollis and her ex-boyfriend Steveno van Rhyn are serving life behind bars for her disappearance.
University of Limpopo criminology and criminal justice department head Witness Maluleke said a cold case of this nature never disappears forever.
Two years after Joshlin Smith vanished
“We have witnessed past successes in similar cases and it is still hoped we will see justice for Joshlin Smith and those responsible are held accountable and face the law. The investigation team should not give up yet,” he said.
Maluleke said the public should continue giving detailed information to aid the investigation. “It is not over,” he said.
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Criminal law expert Cornelia van Graan added that this was a tragic case in South Africa.
“Realistically the chances of recovering Joshlin at this stage are very slim. We may never know what really happened to her. It is one of those sad cases where even a conviction does not bring justice or closure.”
National Assembly chair of the portfolio committee on police Ian Cameron said though he wanted to believe Joshlin could still be found, the chances were increasingly slim.
Chances that Joshlin could still be found increasingly slim
“Her case speaks on behalf of thousands of children in South Africa who go missing and are never found. Children are not safe in South Africa,” he said.
“Missing children cases demand disciplined, intelligence-led, prosecution-guided investigations from the outset, not spectacle.
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“One must also question whether the relevant urgency was there from the start and why such a horrific mother even had a child in her care. It is disgraceful to say the least that such a monster could even have a child.”
Cameron questioned whether political grandstanding in the earliest stages compromised investigative integrity.
“High-profile walkabouts, media theatrics and uncontrolled access to potential evidence scenes risk contaminating investigations and undermining later prosecution prospects,” he said.
Her name will not be forgotten
On the anniversary of Joshlin’s disappearance on 19 February, Women For Change spokesperson Cameron Kasambala said her name will not be forgotten.
“Dear Joshlin, two years have passed since the day you disappeared, and not a single day has gone by that your name has been forgotten. You were only six years old, a little Grade 1 girl with a whole life ahead of you. Dreams still forming. A future that should have been filled with safety, friends and fun. Instead, your name became a national cry for justice.
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“People from across South Africa stood together for you. They searched for you. They marched for you. They prayed for you. Your face was carried on posters, shared across timelines and held in the hearts of strangers who had never met you but cared deeply about bringing you home,” she added.
Kasambala said they will continue to say Joshlin’s name.
‘We speak it’
“We speak it because you matter. We speak it because you are not forgotten. We speak it because every child deserves protection, safety and love.
“We will carry your soul with us – in every demand for accountability, in every call for stronger systems to protect children, in every conversation about trafficking and violence. You will never be forgotten.”