His mother was sentenced to life imprisonment, but Joshlin remains missing two years after his disappearance.

Two years. Two years since little Joshlin Smith disappeared from Saldanha Bay, a fishing town on the Atlantic coast, 135 kilometers north of Cape Town. Two years that her grandmothers have been searching for her. Two years that South Africa has not forgotten her face, her green eyes, her brown pigtails, and her big smile.

A disappearance that shocked an entire country

In February 2024, six-year-old Joshlin Smith disappeared. His mother, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, reported him missing and even joined the search. Posters went up. Appeals for witnesses were launched. A nationwide manhunt ensued. For weeks, South Africa held its breath.

Then the truth comes out.

According to investigators, Racquel Smith and two accomplices—her partner Jacquen Appollis and Steveno Dumaizio van Rhyn—allegedly sold the little girl to a traditional healer for 20,000 rand, or approximately 950 euros. The healer was reportedly attracted to the child's distinctive features: her light eyes and mixed-race complexion.

A trial followed by the entire nation

The trial opens in March 2025. Thirty-five witnesses take the stand. Judge Nathan Erasmus listens, weighs the evidence, and decides. In May 2025, he delivers the verdict: Racquel Smith and her two co-defendants are found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping.

The sentence came down shortly afterwards: life imprisonment.

The courtroom erupts. Shouts. Tears. Part of the crowd gathered outside the Vredenburg courthouse expresses its anger by throwing stones. The emotion, held back for months, overflows in seconds. This is proof, if any were needed, that this trial was not just about one family: it was a trial of an unbearable injustice.

Joshlin remains untraceable

But the conviction doesn't bring Joshlin back. The little girl has still not been found. Neither alive nor dead. In January 2026, the South African Minister of Sport, Gayton McKenzie, claimed to have received credible information about her possible whereabouts, without providing any details. The Western Cape police deny the rumors circulating about the discovery of her body.

The investigation continues. Joshlin's paternal family is not giving up. Joshlin's grandmother keeps telling reporters that she still believes in a miracle.

A case that reopens a profound debate

The Joshlin case brought to light a problem rarely discussed publicly in South Africa: the practice of child trafficking for ritual purposes, sometimes linked to unscrupulous traditional healers. Child protection organizations called for harsher sentences, better protection for vulnerable children, and more resources to track down trafficking networks.

For now, the convicted men are behind bars. Joshlin, however, is still somewhere—or nowhere. And South Africa, two years later, still cannot mourn her.

A symbol of the failure to protect the most vulnerable.

The name Joshlin Smith is now synonymous, in South Africa and beyond, with a system that failed. A six-year-old girl, entrusted to a mother who was supposed to protect her. A state that convicted the perpetrators but couldn't find her in time. A society that lit candles, posted thousands of messages of support, and is still waiting for a response that never comes.