Racquel 'Kelly' Smith speaking to her lawyer Rinesh Sivnarain.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
In a tense session at the White City Multipurpose Centre, where the Western Cape High Court is currently sitting, Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith’s legal representative sought to dismantle the State’s case by challenging the reliability of its primary witness – Lourentia ‘Renz’ Lombaard.
Smith’s lawyer, Rinesh Sivnarain, argued forcefully that Renz’s evidence was riddled with inconsistencies that could not be reconciled.
Renz, who originally faced charges but later turned State witness, testified that a series of events surrounding the disappearance of Joshlin, the six-year-old girl who vanished from her Middelpos home on February 19, 2024, pointed to a premeditated plot to traffic the child.
According to the State’s narrative, she implicated Kelly, along with her boyfriend Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis and friend Steveno ‘Steffie’ van Rhyn, in orchestrating the trafficking.
However, Sivnarain contended that Renz’s account was severely undermined by contradictions. “Her testimony is nothing more than a series of disjointed accounts, which she admits were affected by her drug consumption,” he stated.
He emphasised that Renz disclosed using drugs two to three times a day during the relevant period in February 2024 – a fact she even cited to explain the discrepancies in her timeline.
For instance, she provided conflicting statements regarding the exact time she overheard a crucial conversation, at one point mentioning a broken window incident and then later asserting she heard the discussion on a different day.
Sivnarain argued that these disparities were not trivial.
“When your mental faculties are impaired by substances, your recollection of time and events becomes unreliable. This witness’s version is so poor and opportunistically adapted that it should not form the basis of such serious charges,” he asserted.
He further alleged that Renz, an opportunist driven by financial incentive and the promise of payment from Kelly, intentionally altered her account to distance herself from responsibility as the investigation progressed.
Highlighting that Renz was the sole witness on whom the State relied to corroborate the alleged trafficking plan, Sivnarain urged the court to treat her evidence with extreme caution.
“If a single material contradiction is enough to cast doubt on her entire account, the State has failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” he concluded.
As the proceedings continue at the White City Multipurpose Centre, the credibility of Renz’s testimony remains a key battleground in a case that has captured widespread attention.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za