HARD TO JUDGE

Joshlin Smith regter questions Lombaard testimony as State gives final arguments

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

TENSIONS peaked in the Western Cape High Court yesterday as Judge Nathan Erasmus pressed the State on key contradictions in the case of six-year-old Joshlin Smith's disappearance.

While the prosecution insists there was an agreement to sell the child, Erasmus raised concerns about how star State witness Lourentia "Renz" Lombaard's testimony lined up with that of the accused.

Lombard's testimony forms the backbone of the State's case, after she was granted immunity in exchange for full disclosure in the events surrounding Joshlin's vanishing on 19 February 2024.

Renz alleges that Racquel "Kelly" Smith, conspired with Jacquen "Boeta" Appollis, and Steveno "Steffie" van Rhyn to sell Joshlin for R20 000, a plan supposedly conceived months before it was executed.

However, Judge Erasmus is not keen on accepting Lombaard's version in full.