A judge in South Africa sentenced a woman to life in prison on Thursday after she was convicted of selling her 6-year-old daughter, who is still missing, in a case that has captivated and horrified South Africans.
The woman, Racquel Smith, 35, sat stoically as the judge handed down the sentence after a three-month trial in a town on South Africa’s west coast. The mother and two men were found guilty earlier this month of kidnapping and trafficking her eldest child, Joshlin Smith, for exploitation.
“The accused did not show remorse,” the judge, Nathan Erasmus, said on Thursday, adding that up until the eve of sentencing, the mother “still lied.” The two men were also sentenced on Thursday to life in prison, the minimum penalty for the kidnapping and enslavement of children in South Africa.
The girl disappeared in February 2024 from a shack she shared with her mother, two siblings and her mother’s boyfriend in the seaside town of Saldanha Bay, on the country’s west coast. The police, naval officers and members of the community combed the town, but the girl was never found.
A photograph of the girl was plastered all over town, and then on national news outlets. Two weeks into the search, the police arrested her mother; her mother’s boyfriend, Jacquin Appollis; and a friend of the couple, Steveno van Rhyn.
Prosecutors said that the mother was addicted to drugs and had sold the girl for 20,000 rand, about $1,100.
Public interest in the case was so high that court proceedings were held in a community center in Saldanha Bay and broadcast on national television.
During the trial, the mother and the two other suspects declined to testify. On May 2, when they were convicted, a judge ruled the girl had been sold into slavery.
Prosecutors argued for a life sentence, urging the judge to consider that the child was still missing.
“We do not have her, we do not know where she is, but that is why the state has provided evidence to give her a voice, as she is not in court,” Eric Ntabazalila, a spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority, said in a statement.
Many questions about the case persist. But Ms. Smith has steadfastly declined to divulge any information about her daughter’s disappearance, even after the pleas of the girl’s paternal grandmother, Rita Yon.
Joshlin’s two younger siblings often asked after their sister, Ms. Yon said.
“We are still missing Joshlin,” Ms. Yon told the TV channel Newzroom Afrika after the sentencing on Thursday. “It doesn’t feel nice not knowing where she is, what she eats or drinks and how the people who have her treat her.”
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
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