Joshlin's mom wanted to run

Gayton: Being close to the search for missing girl 'I knew I just met a suspect'

- Vhahangwele Nemakonde

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has alleged that Kelly Smith, the mother of missing Saldanha Bay girl Joshlin Smith, was planning to run before her arrest.

McKenzie was one of the politicians actively involved in the search for the six-year-old and supporting the family in the hopes of finding Joshlin.

The exercise proved futile.

Following the little girl's disappearance in February last year, McKenzie and his party held a prayer meeting for the family. However, McKenzie said he was unsettled by Smith's behaviour.

He said the first time he met Smith, he suspected that she allegedly knew more about her daughter's disappearance.

"When I met Kelly [Smith], I couldn't sleep because I knew I had just met a suspect," McKenzie alleged in a recent Facebook post.