Tensions reached a breaking point on Day 13 of the Joshlin Smith trial when State witness Lourentia Lombaard suffered a panic attack on the witness stand.
Joshlin Smith trial today: Here’s a breakdown of what happened
Moments before, the judge had exposed a crucial contradiction in her testimony, forcing her to admit that she had misrepresented details about her movements on Sunday, 18 February 2024—the day before Joshlin disappeared.
Overcome with emotion, Lombaard broke down in tears, pleaded for forgiveness, and struggled to compose herself.
The court was adjourned to give her time to recover, but when proceedings resumed, the judge announced that she had been deemed medically unfit to continue testifying.
Medics carried her out of the courtroom, leaving the day’s session cut short in dramatic fashion.
What led to Lourentia Lombaard’s breakdown?
The cross-examination of Lombaard had been unrelenting from the moment Jacquen Appollis’s lawyer, Advocate Fannie Harmse, took the floor.
With her credibility already in question, Lombaard faced intense scrutiny over inconsistencies in her timeline of events.
The first major challenge came when Harmse introduced a detective’s statement regarding a confrontation between Kelly Smith and Jacquen over a chicken theft.
While Lombaard and the detective gave similar descriptions of the scene, there was a key discrepancy:
- The detective placed the incident on Saturday, 17 February 2024.
- Lombaard insisted it happened on Sunday, 18 February 2024.
- The detective also noted the presence of an additional person at the house, whom Lombaard never mentioned.
The defence hammered on this inconsistency, suggesting that her memory was unreliable and that she was tailoring her testimony to fit the State’s case.
The pressure mounted as Harmse challenged her knowledge of the time when certain events occurred.
Lombaard claimed she knew it was 13:00 when she returned home that Sunday because Ayanda’s co-workers had told her.
The judge intervened, questioning why someone would specifically inform her of the time. Lombaard explained that a worker had been sent to fetch car tyre polish and, in passing, mentioned the time.
This led to a deeper probe into her afternoon activities. The judge asked about the food she prepared—pap and meat—and where she obtained the ingredients.
Lombaard explained that she had collected them when she was at home around 13:00. The judge then asked where she got the money for the groceries, and she said it had been brought to her.
When pressed, she confirmed that it was the same worker who had retrieved the car wash tools, revealing that he had actually visited her twice.
It was at this point that the judge uncovered a significant contradiction. Lombaard had repeatedly testified that she had taken her children with her to Kelly’s house that morning after dropping off food for Ayanda.
However, under cross-examination, she admitted that she had actually gone to Kelly’s with her children only in the afternoon. The inconsistency was glaring, and the judge did not let it slide.
Visibly distressed, Lombaard broke down, sobbing as she pleaded with the judge for forgiveness.
The courtroom fell silent as she struggled to regain composure. Given her emotional state, the judge adjourned proceedings until 14:00 to allow her time to cool down.
Before her breakdown, Lombaard had already been under immense pressure from the defence, which spent the morning meticulously dissecting her account of what happened that Sunday.
- The defence put it to her that Jacquen was never at Kelly’s house at the time she claimed she saw him arguing with Kelly.
- Harmse pointed out inconsistencies in her ability to recall the time of events, questioning how she could be certain of specific hours when she did not own a watch or any other timekeeping device.
- The judge intervened multiple times to strike off irrelevant lines of questioning, cautioning the defence against nitpicking minor mistakes in Lombaard’s recollection.
- However, the major inconsistency about her movements—when she visited Kelly’s house with her children—became the turning point in the cross-examination.
Following the short adjournment, the judge returned to announce that Lombaard was deemed unfit to continue testifying for the rest of the day.
No official statement was provided on her condition, but courtroom cameras captured medics carrying her out.
Court is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 09:00. If Lombaard recovers, she will resume her testimony. If not, the State will call its next witness, reportedly a detective, to take the stand.
With her credibility now under serious scrutiny, the coming days could be pivotal in shaping how the court weighs Lombaard’s testimony in relation to the State’s case.
