'WE WON'T STOP SEARCHING'

MISSING Joshlin Smith se peetma en oumas still believe she will be found as Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile said authorities are still actively searching for Joshlin.

They were speaking after Joshlin’s mother Kelly Smith and her co-accused, berk Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis and chommie Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life behind bars for the seven-year-old’s kidnapping and trafficking.

Patekile says: “The investigation remains open. We continue to follow every lead.”

But while the search is on, Joshlin’s godmother Natasha Andrews says: “She was our baby daughter.

“She lived with us, ate, and went on holidays with us, we did everything for her.”

Of Kelly-hulle, she adds: “They were given a chance to say something, anything that could have helped us find her, but they said nothing. That chance is gone, and now we just hope one day we find her.”

Andrews insisted she will continue to visit Kelly until she has an answer about what happened to Joshlin, saying: “She was sobbing, but at the end of the day, we still don’t have answers. I remain hopeful that Joshlin will be found. We are not going to give up. 

“Kelly accepted me into her life and into Joshlin’s life. I’ll never stop visiting her until we have an answer.”

Joshlin’s paternal grandmother, Louretta Yon, says: “What Kelly did was harsh. I know Boeta, he came to my house before.

“Maybe one day she will tell the truth about what happened to Joshlin. I don’t want to say anything to Kelly now.”

Kelly’s mother, Amanda Smith-Daniels, says she will raise Kelly’s son and youngest daughter.

She says: “It’s painful. I will be their mother, and I will raise them. She did the crime, and the law must take its course.

“It’s not nice that my child has to spend her life in jail, but she did something wrong and must deal with the consequences.”

Smith-Daniels said the last time she spoke to Kelly she said she would take the stand, but she didn’t.

She says: “She didn’t say what she would have said. It’s private.”