Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton Mckenzie is offering a helse R250 000 reward for any tip-off that may lead to missing Joshlin Smith.
While the City of Cape Town has sent a squad of investigators and search and rescue experts to Saldanha Bay to help trace the six-year-old, Mckenzie has been following his eie leads.
He claims that on Wednesday night, his team found a pink girl’s sandal at a nearby beach resort along with fresh footprints, but couldn’t determine who the shoe belonged to as they could not locate or get in touch with mother Kelly Smith, 33.
And on Thursday afternoon, Mckenzie went to Tygerberg Hospital to speak to a woman who claimed she had bought a pie for a girl “who looked like Joshlin” at the facility.
He says: “The hospital told us they are going to view the footage and if they see something they will call us back and we can all view the footage.
“She was seen on Wednesday by the woman, and apparently looked neglected and hungry.”
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has dispatched help to Saldanha Bay after the South African Police Service (SAPS) were forced to scale down the search for missing Joshlin Smith due to a lack of resources.
Police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie insists that the search has not been abandoned, saying: “The investigating team is still pursuing all leads to trace the missing girl.”
Saldanha Bay mayor Andre Truter decided to call on his leaders as the child has now been missing for 11 days.
He says: “I do realise that the SAPS decision may be motivated by available funding, but for us as local government in Saldanha Bay Municipality, the tracing of little Joshlin is of paramount importance.
“This led to a meeting with the Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and JP Smith of Safety and Security.”
The City resources include investigators, K9 unit search dogs, Marine Unit members and water craft, as well as experienced search and rescue volunteers and drones.
Mayor Hill-Lewis says: “As parents ourselves, it is extremely painful and distressing that this little girl is still missing. We pray she is found soon.”
Alderman JP Smith, Mayco member for Safety and Security, added that the teams dispatched to Saldanha have extensive experience in assisting SAPS, as well as search and rescue expertise.
Smith adds: “We know these officers will bring valuable skills to the search effort. We initiated workstreams between municipalities to ensure that we are able to respond when called upon.”
Little Joshlin went missing on Monday, 19 February, while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend Jacquin Appollis. Kelly, a domestic worker, said when she came home at 5pm, Joshlin was not there, and Appollis claimed the girl had left the house while he was sleeping.
The self-confessed drug addict said she started looking for Joshlin around 7pm and she went to the police at 9.40pm. But police say it was reported the following day.
