“Maka Lima” lead emerges in Joshlin Smith case

THE Western Cape High Court heard that it was Steveno van Rhyn who first mentioned the woman allegedly involved in the sale of missing 6-year-old Joshlin Smith. That was shared in the evidence-in-chief of detective Sergeant David Johannes Fortuin, who led the interviews on March 4, 2024.

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

THE Western Cape High Court heard that it was Steveno van Rhyn who first mentioned the woman allegedly involved in the sale of missing 6-year-old Joshlin Smith. This was shared in the evidencein-chief of detective Sergeant Dawid Johannes Fortuin, who led the interviews on March 4, 2024.

The officer said he sat down with Jacquen "Boeta" Appollis and Van Rhyn on that evening when van Rhyn revealed that a woman named "Maka Lima" knew what happened to Joshlin.

Central to the trial is a "trial within a trial, currently sitting in the White City Multipurpose Centre in Diazville, Saldanha Bay, focused on the admissibility of confessions made by the accused -Appollis and Van Rhyn.

The two men allege their confessions were obtained under duress, including physical assault at the hands of the police.