Joslin Smith — mother charged, muti trafficking of a child
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The prosecution alleged that a child was trafficked for muti, making the claimed ritual use of the child the spiritual pretext at issue. The allegation must be read with the proceeding status shown on this record.
- Ritual, oath, or initiation
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- The Citizen (2024) 'Muti murders in SA: Has Joslin Smith fallen prey to 'occult economy'?', The Citizen, 11 March. Available at: citizen.co.za (Accessed: 14 July 2026).
In South Africa, the disappearance of six-year-old Joslin Smith led to human-trafficking charges against her own mother, allegedly for sale into muti (ritual body-part medicine): 'In a dramatic new development in the tragic case of the six-year-old, her mother, Racquel 'Kelly' Smith and her boyfriend Jacquin 'Boeta' Appollis have been charged with human trafficking and kidnapping. They appeared on Thursday, 7 March in the Vredenburg Magistrate's Court alongside their co-accused Steveno van Rhyn and Phumza Sigaqa, an alleged sangoma. The state alleges that her mother instructed Appollis and Van Rhyn to sell Joslin to a traditional healer for R20 000 to be used in muti.'
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- https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/crime/muti-killings-sa-joslin-joshlin-smith-missing-children/ Legacy citation preserved without a normalized source tier or evidentiary-role code. SHA-256 75b1e805febeb0af054bf5950fa6046793b8cdc6d25ca155368590d49f32a032
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- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
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Related record
Related cases · Southern African muti
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- 2018 · KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa South Africa: life sentences for a killing to obtain body parts for muthi — affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal
- 2026 · Manyara Region, Tanzania Tanzania: Court of Appeal upholds a death sentence for a ritual killing carried out on a witchcraft practitioner's instruction that sacrifice would bring prosperity
- 2026 · Iringa Region, Tanzania Tanzania: father sentenced to death for killing his four-year-old son in a ritual killing