The trial-within-a-trial probing whether police coerced confessions from two of the accused in the Joshlin Smith disappearance case resumed on Thursday with further cross-examination of Steveno “Steffie” van Rhyn and pointed remarks from the bench about inconsistencies in his testimony.
Van Rhyn, who claimed he and co-accused Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis were assaulted and forced to confess, faced scrutiny from State prosecutor Advocate Zelda Swanepoel regarding multiple contradictions between his plea explanation and his court testimony.
“Your testimony was that you were instructed to remove your T-shirt and your shoes. In your plea explanation, there is no mention of that,” she said.
“Your evidence was also that only one officer was with you when you were taken to Dr Nel, but in your plea explanation, you refer to more than one.”
Swanepoel told the court that Van Rhyn was never examined on 6 March 2024, despite claiming he thought he was.
She asked where the instruction came from to say he was taken to the doctor because of his injuries, rather than as part of a routine procedure.
Van Rhyn replied: “They said it was for my injuries.”
The prosecutor challenged Van Rhyn on his account that a black plastic bag had been placed over his head to prevent him from identifying his alleged torturers.
“You were able to see the two men at Jacobsbaai, the two women, then you were taken back and forth between rooms. So what would be the purpose of the bag?” she asked.
Van Rhyn responded: “It might have been to suffocate me.” When he added that the bag was shiny, different from what was previously mentioned, Swanepoel accused him of adjusting his version. “Why didn’t we hear about this shiny wood bag before? Or is it something you thought of adding yesterday?” she asked.
“I must have forgotten about it,” Van Rhyn said.
Swanepoel told the witness, quoting the Afrikaans idiom “jy span jou seil na die wind”.
Judge Nathan Erasmus allowed the line of questioning and added context for the accused: “You gave instructions to your attorney before the trial. But now, some of what we hear is new. What the prosecutor is saying is that as things develop, the instructions change. So is it that you forgot, or are you adapting your evidence?”
Van Rhyn insisted: “I forgot, my Lord.”
Erasmus continued: “Lest we forget, the same applies to the ‘spinning between the chairs’ that you testified to. That, too, was something we heard about only later. The prosecutor’s statement to you is 'you trim your sails as the wind blows'."
The court previously heard claims from both Van Rhyn and Appollis that police officers suspended them with an aluminium rod during interrogations and beat them into submission. Both accused said they were instructed to implicate a woman who lives near Appollis’ home.
Swanepoel argued that those allegations were not only physically implausible but contradicted their prior statements. “We will argue that you are adjusting your testimony and your version as you go along,” she said.
Appollis and Van Rhyn were arrested on 5 March 2024, just over two weeks after six-year-old Joshlin Smith was reported missing from her Middelpos home on 19 February. Joshlin’s mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, who was at work at the time, had left her in Appollis’ care. All three - Kelly, Appollis, and Van Rhyn - are facing charges of kidnapping and human trafficking and have pleaded not guilty.
The trial-within-a-trial will determine whether the confessions allegedly made by Van Rhyn and Appollis are admissible as evidence in the main trial. The proceedings are currently focused on whether those statements were made freely or under duress.