Cape Town — As the Joshlin Smth trial rolls on, former accused-turned-state witness Lourenca Lombaard gave her account of what happened to Joshlin.
Lombaard was the latest witness to give her testimony as the Saldanha Bay community and surrounding areas eagerly awaited to hear what happened to the young girl who has now been missing for over a year.
According to The Citizen, Lombaard revealed the events of Sunday 18 February, a day before Joshlin disappeared. She said she was walking along the rocks toward Kelly and Jacquin “Boeta” Apollis’ home when she saw a detective bakkie on the other side of the canal. At the house, she saw Kelly, Boeta and an unknown man standing outside.
The man asked to enter the house and presented a pair of Nike sneakers and asked Appollis if it belonged to him, to which he said yes. The pair continued to speak but Lombaard was unable to hear what was being said but she could hear Kelly shouting at Boeta.
[WATCH] State witness Laurentia Lombard recalls a conversation between Joshlin’s mother and Boeta. Before Kelly left for work, she told Boeta that at 2 O’clock, he needed to get Joshlin ready. “I will be back at 2 O’clock because the people will come at 2 O’clock to fetch… pic.twitter.com/UfhkTOWCl9
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 14, 2025
Lombaard said Appollis advised the man to ignore Kelly’s outburst, and as the time went on, Kelly’s anger grew. She grabbed a rock and smashed a window, cutting herself in the process. She later emerged with a knife and threatened to stab Boeta to death.
Lombaard later returned to Smith’s house and overheard a conversation where Kelly told Boeta was he needed to do about Joshlin. He dismissed her and said she was talking nonsense and Smith allegedly told him that she will do her own thing because someone is looking for Joshlin.
“I then heard Kelly’s cell phone ringing. She was the only one in the house who owned a phone. I heard her walking to the other room,” Lombaard testified.
Kelly then told Boeta that she was on her way and was waiting for Boeta to “finish the job”.
“Kelly and Joshlin then came out the front door and walked past me,” Lombaard said. “I asked her where she was going. She answered that she would return soon and that I must ‘loop k*k’, as it was none of my business. Kelly and Joshlin then walked on the other side of the canal.”
[WATCH] Joshlin Smith trial witness in cross-examination – “Kelly knew what she did to the child, why did she not tell the cops what happened to the child?” #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/fqhKLrIkAZ
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 14, 2025
According to IOL, Lombaard told the court that Kelly offered her money to stay silent regarding Joshlin’s disappearance.
“I watched Kelly walk to a white VW Polo. The windows were not too dark. A black woman came out of the car and spoke to Kelly and then gave her something and Kelly put it in her pants, on the front side,” Lombaard said.
Lombaard returned to her house and later went back to Kelly’s place and stood outside the gate. Kelly and Boeta did not know she was there as she wanted to find out what happened.
“She showed Boeta money, she told him it was R20,000 and Boeta asked what she was going to do with it. I went to the shack and asked Kelly what was going on.
She said she had done ‘something shitty’ and when asked what she meant she told Lombaard that she sold her child to a sangoma.
“I asked her why, and she said she needed the money and was going through hardship.”
Lombaard said Kelly had offered her hush money and said Lombaard was offered R1 000, Steveno was offered R1 200 and Kelly and Boeta split the rest.
“She said she would give me money to keep quiet because we knew about the plan. I never received any money from Kelly,” she said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
