Steveno van Rhyn testified at the Western Cape High Court that crucial parts of his statement to police, implicating himself in Joshlin Smith’s disappearance, were not his words but those allegedly fed to him under torture.
Six-year-old Joshlin went missing from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, on 19 February 2024. Her mother, Kelly Smith, had left her in the care of Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis. Smith, Appollis, Van Rhyn, and Maka Lima were arrested. A trial-within-a-trial is ongoing to determine whether confessions from Van Rhyn and Appollis were made voluntarily.
Van Rhyn told the court sitting at the White City Multipurpose Centre, Diazville, that Sergeant Dawid Johannes Fortuin forced him to say that he and Boeta took Joshlin to former accused Maka Lima’s home.
He also said that he witnessed Maka Lima being tortured, with a plastic bag placed over her head, in a boardroom at the Sea Border offices.
Van Rhyn claimed the officers used that moment to coerce him further.
He said that Sergeant Fortuin instructed him to lie about falling off a bakkie to explain his injuries. Van Rhyn repeated that version to both Sergeant Felicia Johnson, who took his warning statement, and to a doctor who completed his J88 medical form, saying a police officer was in the room during the examination. He added he did not want to divulge the truth about how the injuries were incurred.
When his lawyer Nobahle Mkabayi asked him why he did not tell the doctor about his genitals being pinched, he answered: "I felt ashamed and didn't want to speak in front of the officer."
The court heard how Van Rhyn was later taken to Colonel Edward Clark and Captain Philip Seekoei to give statements.
Mkabayi asked her client if he was interviewed on his own free will.
“I was in pain, disoriented, and exhausted,” he said. “I just did what they told me. I was not there willingly."
Proceedings continue.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za