The heartbreaking stories behind South Africa's child kidnappings

Child kidnappings have surged in 2025. From the most talked about kidnapping of six-year-old Joshlin Smith to baby Imaad Sharmar. These are only two highlights, one ended in tragedy and the other in a bittersweet relief.

For little Joshlin Smith's family their cry is for her to be returned while her mother and two others are behind bars for life.

The Joshlin Smith trial gripped the nation, the blonde-haired girl who became everyone's child and the proceedings were held in a municipal hall to accommodate the large number of people interested in the case.

On May 29, Joshlin's mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen 'Boeta' Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn, received sentences of life imprisonment plus 10 years for charges of trafficking in persons and kidnapping.

Judge Nathan Erasmus stated that a sentence of life imprisonment is the appropriate penalty in cases of human trafficking of a child, even when the accused shows no remorse. He maintained that imposing a lighter sentence or allowing an appeal would be inappropriate.

In August the court rejected the application for leave to appeal that was submitted by all three accused in the case involving the disappearance of Joshlin Smith.

Laurentia Lombaard, the State's key witness, was granted Section 204 indemnity by Erasmus in the trial concerning the disappearance of the green-eyed girl from Middelpos, Saldanha.

At the time of sentencing, a prohibition was placed on all three individuals, preventing them from ever working with children, by entering their names into the National Child Protection Register.

The disappearance of Joshlin, who was reported missing on February 19 last year, is believed to have been sold for R20,000, and remains missing as the investigation continues.

In June, the attention was also focused on the widely publicized kidnapping of baby Imaad Sharmar who was just a few days old when he was kidnapped from his mother, Imaan Sharmar at Middestad Mall by a woman who allegedly pretended to be a volunteer for an NPO.

Imaad was found in the arms of Sameemah Jacobs, 37, a mother of three from Tafelsig, who later claimed during her bail application that she suffers from bipolar and had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.

Jacobs had allegedly represented herself as three different people, those of herself, Wasiema and Chevon Classen who was an NPO sponsor and volunteer for the Zoey project.

During her bail application, the detective revealed that Jacobs intends on pleading guilty to kidnapping, claiming the infant was not kidnapped but that the mother gave her the baby and that she showered her with money and takkies. Jacobs' attire, a purdah, also evoked emotions from the public on social media and at the court house with claims from people stating that she hid her face after allegedly committing a crime.

The state has since ordered her to remove the purdah while signing in at a police station which forms part of her bail conditions. The case resumes next month.

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