By: Natasha Archary
Joslin Smith’s case has highlighted how easy it is for a child to disappear without a trace.
While four people, including Joslin’s mother Kelly, her boyfriend Jacquin Appollis, and two others are facing charges of kidnapping and human trafficking, the search for the 6-year-old has been a fruitless one.
Joslin, who went missing from her home in an informal settlement in Diazville, Saldanha Bay on 19 February, is but one of hundreds of children who go missing in South Africa.
Luke Lamprecht, Head of Advocacy at Women and Men Against Child Abuse, joins Phemelo Motene on Point of View to talk about the prevalence of crimes against children in the country.
Lamprecht says that in most missing children or child abuse cases, people don’t want to come forward out of fear, and it is often this non-action that results in more than 1,300 cases of kidnapping or child abductions.
“Remember to have a case, you need to make a statement. To activate the system beyond the statement, which is the Child and Family Unit (CFU), you need a CAS number and without someone making a complaint you cannot have a CAS number.
The CAS number is opened on somebody’s statement, so that when they go to court, they don’t get accused of wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and so on.”
While there are systems in place to ensure that false allegations don’t get taken seriously, Luke says that sometimes, the system itself is what hampers the process of finding these missing children.
Action Society has also stressed the war being waged on children in South Africa, and pointed out that Joslin’s case is another reminder of how easily a child can disappear without a trace.
In most cases of human trafficking, victims are caught off guard, are drugged, and/or gagged to make transporting or moving them easier.
Victims are moved quickly, and as was seen with Joslin’s case, are moved between multiple people.
The search for Joslin continues by community members, and search and rescue teams including the navy and SAPS who are tirelessly following every lead in hopes the green-eyed girl will be found.
Listen to the conversation on Point of View:
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