State witness Lourentia Lombaard returned to the witness stand today to provide testimony in the trial of Joshlin Smith at the Western Cape High Court. The former accused recounted that four days after Joshlin's disappearance, she visited her home, where the mother explained the motive behind the person who bought Joshlin.

WANTED FOR HER EYE AND SKIN COLOURS

She said while at Smith's house, the mother, who is standing accused of her daughter's disappearance, called her inside her shack, where she was searching through her things. "I asked her what she was looking for, and she said she was looking for her son's school clothes, bank card, and medical records. She said the person who bought her wanted Joshlin's eyes and skin complexion,' Lombaard testified. She further questioned Smith regarding the R1,000 payment she had promised for her silence, which she said she never received. "That was the last time I saw her until we were arrested." Lombaard also told the court that when she gave a statement to the police after her arrest, she only told them about the day Joshlin disappeared and did not disclose more information as she was scared at the time.

SOLD TO A SANGOMA FOR R20,000

Last week, during her testimony on Thursday and Friday, Lombaard alleged that Smith confessed to selling Joshlin to a sangoma for R20,000. She claimed to have witnessed the money being handed to Smith by a short woman driving a Polo car and that Smith had promised her R1,000 for her silence, which she never received. Smith, along with her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and his friend Stevano van Rhyn, faces charges of kidnapping and human trafficking related to the little girl's disappearance. Lombaard was arrested alongside the trio last year, but the charges against her were later dropped, allowing her to become the state witness. The trial continues.