On Tuesday, Western Cape police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie told Daily Maverick that the search for six-year-old Joslin Smith had been scaled down after no trace of her could be found.

Pojie said the investigation team was still following up on all information received.

“Door-to-door searches were conducted and concluded on Saturday and the investigating team will still respond to substantial and constructive information received,” he said.

Joslin’s mother, Kelly Smith, said the last time she saw her daughter was when she left for work on 19 February at around 8am. She left the little girl with her boyfriend, Jacquin Appollis.

When she returned to her home in Diazville, Saldanha, Western Cape, at around 5pm, Joslin was not there.

Pojie said: “Preliminary information revealed that Joslin was left at home on Monday, 19 February, with the mother’s boyfriend to look after her, as [Joslin] was not feeling well. Later in the afternoon [when] the mother returned from work, her daughter was not at home.”

An integrated police task force, community members, volunteers, various organisations and a police helicopter searched for Joslin without success.

The Western Cape Missing Persons Unit, a private group aiming to reunite families, has said that four minors in the province are currently missing. They are 12-year-old Lunamandla Sithonga, nine-year-old Linathi Titshala, six-month-old Ivakele Yeko and two-month-old Kai-isha Meniers.

‘Bring back my child’

In a video on Facebook that went viral, Smith pleaded with the public to help bring Joslin home.

“From a mother’s instincts, from my heart, I can feel that my child is alive. And I’m pleading with the people who got her, please if you have my child, bring her back home.”

Appollis told eNCA the last time he saw Joslin she told him that she was going to play with a friend.

“I was at home the whole time. When the mother came home, she was with me until 6pm, then we got concerned about the kid. Then we started looking. We didn’t find her and then we called the police,” he said.

‘Don’t give up hope’

Michelle Ohlson, whose nine-year-old son Matthew went missing on March 24, 1997, outside their family home in Westridge, Mitchells Plain, and was never found, told Joslin’s mother that she must persevere and continue to search.

“I ache for that mother with all my heart. I don’t want to imagine how she feels right now. All she has to do now is hold on and keep searching,” she said.

Following Matthew’s disappearance, his mother established Concerned Parents for Missing Children. It lasted 12 years and traced 80 missing children. However, the group closed due to a lack of funds.

After 26 years with no news about Matthew’s whereabouts, Ohlson said: “Nobody can tell me how long is too long. As long as I don’t hear from him, I’ll keep wondering where he is and what happened to him. This isn’t something you can turn off.”

‘Rumours don’t help’

The police have urged the public to refrain from posting unfounded rumours about the search for Joslin.

“These rumours and allegations have a detrimental effect on the investigation and resources dispatched as it derails the investigation and exhausts valuable resources.

“We therefore appeal to residents of the surrounding towns and neighbourhoods not to flock to Saldanha to offer their help to search for the missing Joslin,” Pojie said.

Saldanha Bay Mayor André Truter has announced a R20,000 reward for anyone with information on the missing girl. They can contact the Saldanha police on 022 714 8333 or Missing Children SA on 072 647 7464. DM