As the high-profile trial into the disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith pushes through its sixth week, Day 26 is expected to mark a critical turning point in the trial-within-a-trial phase.
What to expect from the Joshlin Smith trial on Day 26
The spotlight will remain on Captain Phillip Seekoei, whose cross-examination is scheduled to resume after Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi concludes her questioning of Sergeant Dawid Fortuin.
Defence teams representing Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn are set to press hard on inconsistencies in the state’s handling of video confession evidence—footage that allegedly contains key admissions linking the accused to Joshlin’s disappearance.
Seekoei, who took over the confession interview process after Colonel Ian Clark, will be questioned about his role in recording and managing the second segment of Steveno’s statement.
The defence is likely to focus on the audio issues and missing transcript portions flagged earlier in the week by Judge Nathan Erasmus. These flaws have already cast doubt on the credibility of the confession video, which has been submitted as core evidence in the state’s case.
This next round of questioning is expected to challenge the admissibility of the confessions obtained on 5 March 2024 and scrutinise the investigative strategy used to extract them.
With Judge Erasmus making it clear that the trial-within-a-trial must wrap up soon, today’s proceedings are expected to be comprehensive and fast-moving.
If the court is satisfied with Seekoei’s responses, it may close the state’s case and move forward to the defence’s version on Wednesday, 9 April 2025.
Readers can follow the live trial coverage today as the courtroom battle intensifies.
Recap of Day 25: Key testimonies and new revelations
Day 25 was dominated by continued cross-examination of Sergeant Fortuin, whose testimony provided rare insight into the police strategy used to persuade Appollis and Van Rhyn to implicate Kelly Smith.
Fortuin described the operation as a carefully coordinated sequence of questioning designed to sow doubt and prompt cooperation, ultimately resulting in both men giving statements implicating Kelly and referencing a figure named “Makalima”—allegedly a sangoma to whom Joshlin was sold.
Defence advocate Fannie Harmse questioned Fortuin about the alleged coercion of Jacquen Appollis. Much of his focus was on whether Appollis was afforded a proper opportunity to change clothes, a line of inquiry intended to challenge claims that any injuries shown in later footage were not pre-existing. Harmse also pressed Fortuin on why no written notes were made during critical stages of the interviews, accusing him of failing to follow proper procedures.
Fortuin admitted that he did not document his movements or observations during the key interviews on 4 March but defended this by stating that only minimal information was available at that stage, which would later be captured in formal statements.
Later, Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi, representing Steveno van Rhyn, tackled the credibility of Fortuin’s role. She argued that the information implicating Kelly and Makalima may have been planted or suggested by officers while Fortuin moved between interview rooms. Fortuin denied this, stating Steveno never mentioned being fed information and that real-time revelations—such as those involving Makalima—were significant in guiding the investigation forward.
Mkabayi also challenged the rationale for detaining Steveno overnight, to which Fortuin responded that the urgency and gravity of the child’s disappearance required immediate follow-up on every detail the accused provided.
As the day wrapped, Judge Erasmus confirmed that Seekoei’s cross-examination will close out the state’s case. The defence is expected to begin presenting its version on Wednesday, and both sides will aim to conclude the trial-within-a-trial by the end of the week to resume the main trial by mid-April.