Judge Nathan Erasmus.
The judge presiding over the high-profile trial of three people accused of kidnapping and trafficking six-year-old Joslin Smith on Tuesday lashed out at what he described as a campaign of cyberharassment.
Judge Nathan Erasmus opened the day’s proceedings in the Western Cape high court by stating that he, along with state prosecutors and defence attorneys, had been subjected to cyberbullying, including the use of artificial intelligence to manipulate publicly available material.
“I don’t take kindly to it,” Erasmus said. “It undermines the court process and causes unnecessary suspicion in the minds of the public as to the administration of justice.”
Erasmus did not name individuals or groups behind the online attacks but said some of the actions appeared calculated and malicious.
“Some of the conduct by individuals is, to say the least, deliberate,” he said. “I believe people are also spreading stories that people, including myself, were part of the disappearance of Joslin.”
“Maybe it’s just a sign of the times that we live in that people can stoop this low. We, however, won’t be distracted by these individuals or groups, who are trying to undermine the processes of the court.”
The disappearance of Joslin last year from her family shack in Middelpos, in the Saldanha Bay area, sparked a national outcry and attracted international attention.
The trial, now in its fifth week, is being run live on YouTube by broadcasters SABC and eNCA. On some days, the SABC livestream alone has drawn well over 18 000 viewers.
Cross-examination of Captain Wesley Lombard continued after Erasmus’s statements.
Lombard is a 22-year veteran of the Western Cape’s organised crime unit and part of the anti-kidnapping task team. He is the investigating officer in the case and his testimony forms part of a trial within a trial, to determine if allegedly forced confessions made by the accused can be used as evidence.
He was questioned by attorney Nobahle Mkabayi, who represents Steveno van Rhyn, the second accused.
Van Rhyn is on trial alongside Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis (accused one) and Kelly Smith (accused three). Smith is the mother of Joslin and partner to Appollis. All three have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and human trafficking.
The trio have been charged under the doctrine of common purpose.
Charges were last year withdrawn against the fourth accused, Lourentia Lombaard, who has turned state witness, and whose testimony has thus far formed the most dramatic moments of the trial.
Under cross-examination of Lombaard last week, it emerged that Smith believes Lombaard and her partner, Ayanda Litoni, planned the kidnapping of the child.
Joslin vanished on Monday, 19 February 2024, the day after an alleged R20 000 cash exchange between her mother and a female sangoma. She has not been seen since.
Mkabayi’s cross-examination on Tuesday focused on March 2024 as she tried to build a timeline around alleged police misconduct. She previously told the court that Van Rhyn had made self-incriminating statements under duress.
Appollis has also claimed he was tortured by police, as has Lourentia Lombaard.
Captain Lombard was questioned by Apollis’s advocate on Friday about the alleged torture, but said no cases of assault were reported to him.
Lombard on Tuesday contended he played a minimal role in the interviewing of Van Rhyn, and had no knowledge of any torture or assault.
It was a sergeant who was the lead investigator at the time, he said, while being questioned by Mkabayi.
Lombard also told the court that he did not write down the questions he asked Van Rhyn, or the answers given by the man. He thought the sergeant had written them down, he said, because “he had a clipboard with papers”.
Lombard had referenced the questions he, himself, had asked Van Rhyn in his affidavit, and the responses, he said.
Asked by Mkabayi why he didn’t write them down at the time of the interview, Lombard said they were “specific and minimal”. He was also moving between offices at the Sea Border building.
“Now that we don’t have the original interviews and answers, what guarantee does this court have that the alleged interview took place?” asked Mkabayi.
Responded Lombard: “My words are that the interview took place, I put the questions to him and it is mentioned in my statement.”
The sergeant didn’t file an affidavit either, Lombard conceded.
Asked about the specific questions he asked Van Rhyn, Lombard said: “I told him I understand he said we must ask Kelly about the disappearance of Joslin [when being questioned by the sergeant]. He said that he didn’t want to say why we must ask Kelly, and couldn’t give a specific reason.”
Part of his interview strategy, said Lombard, was also to tell Van Rhyn that Smith and Appollis were not protecting him, only each other. He had said this to Van Rhyn more than once during the interview, he said.
Van Rhyn did not respond, he said, “but he listened”.
Mkabayi said that reading his statement, it appeared that Lombard was “trying to instill fear into my client. Do you dispute that?”
“It’s untrue,” responded Lombard.
“When I look at your statement, I see you were enticing him to implicate Appollis and Smith,” said Mkabayi. Lombard again said this was untrue.
Asked by the attorney if his strategy had worked, Lombard said: “According to me, yes.”
But Mkabayi said the strategy “unduly influenced my client to speak”.
She further argued that Van Rhyn had not been properly informed of his rights before the interview began. Lombard said he had done so when Van Rhyn indicated he wanted to “tell the truth.”
The matter continues.
