The cross-examination of state witness Lourentia Lombaard in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial is expected to wrap up on Tuesday afternoon.
She is currently on the stand on the trial of missing Joshlin Smith.
Joshlin went missing from her Middelpos home on February 19, 2024.
Her mother Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, boyfriend, Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis, and Steveno ‘Steffie’ van Rhyn were arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.
Charges were dropped against the fourth accused, Lourentia Lombaard, who turned state witness.
Lombaard told the court sitting in White City Multipurpose Centre in Diazville, Saldanha, that she overheard Kelly’s plan to sell Joshlin.
As day 15 of the Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial ended, Judge Nathan Erasmus stated that Tuesday should be the final day of the cross-examination of the state witness.
“We must try and finish with the witness by Tuesday afternoon,” he told the defense counsel.
Lombaard, a former accused turned witness, has been on the stand since 13 March.
Eighteen witnesses have testified.
She was arrested weeks after Joshlin, then six years old, went missing from her Middelpos home in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024.
Judge Erasmus summarised Lombaard’s testimony on Monday, highlighting that Kelly allegedly devised the plan to sell Joshlin, while Boeta initially refused but later helped cover it up.
Steveno van Rhyn was allegedly present but did not actively participate.
Lombaard also detailed being taken to a safe house with her boyfriend and children before unidentified individuals assaulted and threatened her.
Defense lawyer Nobahle Mkabayi challenged inconsistencies in her testimony, accusing her of lying.
The trial resumes on Tuesday.
IOL News