Gayton McKenzie hits back: ‘I didn’t interfere in Joshlin Smith case — police relied on me!’

Gayton McKenzie

Cape Town – Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie has denied interfering in the investigation of missing seven-year-old Joshlin Smith, who disappeared from her home in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024.

Three individuals — Joshlin’s mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and Stevano van Rhyn — have been arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.

According to EWN, State witness Captain Wesley Lombard told the Western Cape High Court on Thursday that social media posts may have compromised the police investigation into Joshlin Smith’s disappearance.

He said that when he took over the case a week after she went missing, he found that Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie had involved himself in the search and used his social media platform to update the public.

Lombard said false claims that police had abandoned the search and lacked resources created negative publicity, making it harder for authorities to gather information and leads.

However, in an interview with SABC News, McKenzie insisted he stepped in only after police allegedly closed the investigation, using his own resources to locate suspects and hand them over to the authorities.

He claimed that police relied on him for information about the suspects’ whereabouts.

“Every five hours, a child gets lost in South Africa. Most of them don’t get found. I don’t know Joshlin. I have it on black and white and everybody has it where they said they closed the investigation for Joshlin after six days. That’s when I stepped in. The investigation was closed,” McKenzie said.

“I stepped in and said I would pay with my own money for helicopters and sniffer dogs. All of a sudden, we’re looking for every suspect that you see in court today. We found those people, we took them to the police station.

“If they say I’m interfering, I have one question for them. When they were looking for Boeta and the mother, who did they call because they did not know where they were, they called me. My protector told them we booked them into a hotel and are guarding them so they don’t run away.”

Former Police Minister Bheki Cele previously assured the community that the police had not abandoned the search for Joshlin and warned against misinformation being used for political gain, The Citizen reported.

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