IN A shocking twist, Kelly Smith’s lawyer accused Lourentia “Renz” Lombaard of being the real mastermind behind her daughter Joshlin’s disappearance.
Kelly, through her lawyer Rinesh Sivnarain, claimed that State witness Lourentia Lombaard and her boyfriend Ayanda Litoni planned the green-eyed meisie’s abduction from her Middelpos home on 19 February 2024.
This statement was made during cross-examination on Wednesday as Lombaard took the stand in the Western Cape High Court, sitting at White City Multipurpose Centre, Diazville, Saldanha Bay.
Lombaard was arrested along with kidnapping and trafficking-accused trio Kelly, her boyfriend Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and Steveno “Steffie” van Rhyn.
However, charges against her were dropped after she turned State witness under Section 204.
She gave her final statement in October saying that Kelly had hatched a plan to sell Joshlin to a sangoma for R20 000. But the court learned that in her previous statements, she had not told the whole story because she was scared and under the influence of drugs.
In her testimony, Lombaard claimed she saw Kelly walk Joshlin to a white VW Polo, where they met a sangoma with white dots on her face, dressed in green.
After poking holes in her testimony, Sivnarain said that his client believes Lombaard and Ayanda were the main konyne behind Joshlin’s disappearance and that this is why Ayanda left the area.
He said: “She [Kelly] will deny that she acted in common purpose with the co-accused or with you to commit the crime. She believes you are only doing so to save Ayanda.
The cross-examination concluded, and Judge Nathan Erasmus informed Lombaard that she would be called back to court when the matter reached its next stage.
Earlier, Sivnarain had grilled Renz why she never asked Kelly for her R1 000 cut of the money she saw what she assumed was money from the supposed sangoma.
She testified: “Kelly promised to give me R1 000 from the R20 000 she was paid by the sangoma.”
Sivnarain challenged her, asking: “You said Kelly had the money, so why didn’t you ask for your share?”
Lombaard responded: “I heard Kelly speak to Boeta about the money. And when I heard the plan about Joshlin, I went into their shack.”
She admitted she did not ask for her share.
The cross-examination concluded, and Judge Nathan Erasmus informed Lombaard that she would be called back to court when the matter reached its next stage.
The trial continues.
