The detective who led interviews in the Joshlin Smith disappearance investigation has denied claims that Steveno van Rhyn was tortured to extract a confession implicating others.
Six-year-old Joshlin vanished from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, on February 19, 2024.
Her mother Racquel "Kelly" Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen "Boeta" Appollis, and family friend Van Rhyn are standing trial in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in Diazville, facing charges of kidnapping and human trafficking. All three accused pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, during the trial-within-a-trial, Van Rhyn’s lawyer, Nobahle Mkabayi, alleged her client was tortured and coerced into confessing.
She said police placed plastic over Van Rhyn’s head, causing suffocation, and later forced him to repeat a false statement in front of Maka Lima, implicating himself, Appollis, and Smith in delivering Joshlin to her.
Detective Sergeant Dawid Fortuin denied all claims of torture or coercion.
Mkabayi said Van Rhyn would demonstrate to the court how he was tortured.
She also claimed police fed Van Rhyn a narrative, quoting him as having been instructed to say: “Kelly asked Boeta to take Joshlin to Maka Lima, and I went with him.”
Fortuin dismissed this, saying: “That is not true.”
On Monday, Fortuin testified that he and Captain Wesley Lombard came up with a strategy that the couple would not protect Van Rhyn so he should talk.
“We said I would go to Van Rhyn and tell him that Kelly and Boeta would not protect him, and that this was a serious case, and that he was facing a maximum sentence if found guilty, he must think carefully.”
The defence attorney said the strategy has an element of threats and of taking advantage of his youth and vulnerability.
Fortuin replied: “Not at all. It was to get him to talk.”
He also confirmed that he verbally explained Van Rhyn’s rights but didn’t issue the official SAPS 14A form because, at the time, Van Rhyn was not yet a suspect.
Mkabayi questioned the reason her client was not taken before a court on March 5 or 6, 2024.
“My client tells me that he was sick because of the torture. The reason he was not taken to court on those two days was that he was sick and struggling to walk because of the torture.
“He had swollen elbows, back pain, and his private parts. He instructed me that you didn’t want the magistrate to see that he was in pain.”
The detective refuted that and said it was not true.
Captain Philip Seekoei, who recorded Van Rhyn’s confession, is now on the stand.