TALE OF THE TAPE

THE Western Cape High Court on Tuesday was shown video footage that appeared to show a visibly limping Steveno “Steffie” van Rhyn, one of the accused in the Joshlin Smith case.

Six-year-old Joslin went missing from her Middelpos home in Saldanha Bay on 19 February 2024. 

Her mother, Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend, Jacquen “Boeta” Appollis, and their friend, Steffie are on trial for kidnapping and human trafficking.

Van Rhyn’s lawyer, Nobahle Mkabayi, has argued that the accused was tortured, deprived of sleep and food, and forced to confess under extreme physical and psychological pressure during an interview on 4 and 5 March 2024. 

The video footage was recorded on 5 March by the police and a trial within a trial is currently testing the admissibility of that confession after Steffie being forced to say that he fallen off the back of a chommie’s bakkie.

Footage presented in court sitting in the White City Multipurpose Centre, Diazville showed Van Rhyn walking into the room with what appeared to be a limp, dragging his left leg and wearing only socks. 

Mkabayi said her client had not been wearing shoes because his feet were swollen from the previous night’s torture.

Judge Nathan Erasmus questioned Captain Philip Seekoei, the officer who took the confession, on why he failed to notice the accused’s physical discomfort.

Seekoei responded that he did not notice anything concerning at the time. 

Erasmus then asked: “You said there was no reason to be concerned, and then you told me your instruction was clear to get a confession. What does that mean?

“It can be interpreted as, ‘come hell or high water, get the confession’.”

The video also showed Van Rhyn struggling to sit down. 

Erasmus said the accused was seen earlier that day by a district surgeon who observed an injury and ordered his knee to be bandaged. 

Another doctor had previously identified a past operation on the same knee and called for an X-ray.

Mkabayi said her client had not eaten since 2pm the day before and was deprived of sleep the entire night.

When asked whether he had been informed of this, Seekoei said no. 

Mkabayi asked: “Would you have continued with the confession had you known?” 

“No, my Lord,” Seekoei responded.

Mkabayi alleged that her client’s difficulty in sitting down was because “his private parts were pinched” during the alleged torture. 

Seekoei responded: “I don’t know anything about that.”