SPORT Minister Gayton McKenzie could be drawn into the Joshlin Smith trial.
According to the Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader, he faces a possible of case of “interference” in police investigations and that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is deciding whether to prosecute him.
McKenzie opened up about the Joshlin case in a Sunday night social media post, explaining his role and making explosive claims surrounding the green-eyed meisie’s disappearance from Middelpos in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024.
The PA leader on Sunday said that an accusation of kidnapping by Lourentia Lombaard’s ex-boyfriend Ayanda Letoni has been levelled against him regarding the case.
He said: “We have given our statements to lawyers... Another charge is that we have interfered [with the case]. It is now before the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to see whether they are going to prosecute us.”
In court last week, Captain Wesley Lombard detailed how the investigation into Joshlin's disappearance was disrupted by misinformation and social media activity.
Lombard said he observed that parts of the community worked against the police, spreading misinformation that the search had stopped after only a few days.
But McKenzie claims that kidnapping-accused mother Kelly Smith, who was a member of the PA, told him that black people who are Nigerian in the informal settlement had taken Joshlin.
He said: “When I talked to her, I got the feeling that everything about her is not the behaviour of a mother who has lost a child. But I reckoned it is because trauma makes people act differently to their normal selves.
“I realised that there was something that did not make sense.
“I told her to go to the police station and I would remain behind and search.
“I couldn’t leave not knowing where the child was.”
He also claimed that he was told that Joshlin was sold to Letoni for muthi, adding: “The cops feared Ayanda and wanted to arrest us.”
He went on to claim that Letoni was a drug dealer who was well known in the community. He said the mayor and Letoni were in cahoots.
“They planned to sell Joshlin for a long time. The mastermind is Ayanda, Kelly was paid...The money went to drugs. Joshlin is still alive. I don't buy that muthi thing.”
