Joslin Smith Trial: Separate Hearing to Be Held for Lourencia Lombaard, Judge Yet to Decide Her Fate

• Lourencia Lombaard does not know as yet whether she will be granted immunity from prosecution in the Joslin Smith trial
• Lombaard stood trial alongside Kelly Smith, Steveno van Rhyn and Jacquin Apollis, but then turned State witness
• Judge Nathan Erasmus explained that he wanted to have a special hearing after the sentencing to decide Lombaard's fate

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

WESTERN CAPE – Lourencia Lombaard is yet to find out whether she will be jailed for her role in the disappearance of Joslin Smith.

Lombaard, along with Kelly Smith, Jacquin Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn, were originally arrested for the crime.

While the other three maintained their innocence, Lombaard opted to turn State witness and testified against the trio.

Smith, Appollis and van Rhyn have been found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping, and while they will find out their fate by 29 May 2025, Lombaard will not.

Judge yet to make decision

Addressing the State and defence on Friday, 23 May, Judge Nathan Erasmus admitted that he hadn't yet decided whether Lombaard would get indemnity from prosecution. She turned State witness for a chance to be safe from prosecution, but her time on the stand was less than perfect. The defence painted her out to be an unreliable witness, while the judge also noted that she required medical intervention when being asked the tough questions while testifying.

During her testimony, she admitted that her only crime was agreeing to accept money to keep quiet about Joslin's disappearance.

A separate hearing to be held for Lombaard

With the sentencing coming up for the three convicted persons, Erasmus noted that he would determine a date for a hearing to be held for Lombaard once all evidence was presented during the sentencing.

"I have considered the issue on the evidence currently on record, and as things stand, there will be a hearing," he said.

The judge stated that the hearing would be separate and would only focus on Lombaard and her legal representative, adding that he wanted to hear the argument on why she should be granted indemnity or not.

The hearing will be held in Cape Town and not feature any of the three accused.

What you need to know about Lombaard’s involvement during the trial

• Lombaard testified that Kelly sold Joslin to a sangoma for R20,000
• Lombaard further claimed that the sangoma wanted Joslin for her skin and eyes
• Lombaard told the court that she was tortured for three weeks with her boyfriend
• Defence advocate Fanie Harmse poked holes in Lombaard’s testimony
• Rinesh Sivnarain alleged that Lombaard and Ayanda Letoni were behind Joslin’s disappearance
• The defence challenged the credibility of Lombaard’s evidence during closing arguments

Kelly Smith and co-accused found guilty

Briefly News reported that Smith, van Rhyn and Appollis were found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping.

Judge Nathan Erasmus found that the state did enough to prove that the trio were guilty on both counts.

The judge also noted that due to their failure to testify in their defence, the trio could not explain themselves.

Source: Briefly News