She’s not Joshlin’: Elsies River girl’s family calls for an end to cruel online comments
Shenikah Jacobs, 9, has faced harassment after being told she resembles the missing Joshlin Smith.
Image: Supplied
An Elsies River family is pleading to the public to stop harassing their nine-year-old daughter, who, some are saying, is the missing Joshlin Smith.
Little Joshlin was reported missing after she disappeared from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha, in the Western Cape on February 19, 2024.
Despite search efforts, the then-six-year-old green-eyed girl has still not been found.
Joshin's mother Kelly Smith and her two co accused, Jacquen “ Boeta” Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced last year to life imprisonment for kidnapping and trafficking, after the Western Cape High Court ruled that they sold the girl for R20 000.
Now, a viral video of Leonsdale girl Shenikah Jacobs, 9, has people making cruel comments online.
Jacobs is seen doing the skeur dance during a 'Skeur My' competition in the community of Elsies River. And with her light hair and eyes, the internet joked that Jacob and Joshlin are the same person.
The search on TikTok was ‘Joshlin Smith body found’.
One user commented, “Haai nee Joshlin. Gayton soek jou’,(Gayton is looking for you) meanwhile another comment, “That is Joshlin’.
The video has since gone viral, and people have been harassing the little girl to the point where she does not want to continue her passion for dancing.
Speaking on behalf of the family, an aunt of Shenikah Jacobs, who does not want her name revealed, explained: “There was a 'Skeur My' competition in Leonsdale, in which she participated because she loves dancing, and that was when the comments started about Shenikah looking like Joshlin.
“This has affected us to the point where we even cried because it does not sit well with us.
“Whenever Shenikah and her mother are walking outside, people will stop them, saying, ‘Isn’t this Joshlin?’ or they would point at her and say, ‘Isn’t she the child being accused of being Joshlin?’.
“Even when they were walking to school, people were commenting to the point that the child didn’t want to go to school, but thankfully, she is at school.
“We know she is not Joshlin; we have a birth certificate to prove it. This has affected her mother especially, because people were saying she stole the child.
“The police even went to her house to make sure that she is not Joshlin.”
The aunt said that Shekinah has lost her confidence because of the hateful comments posted online.
She added: “The comments are very bad, and we do not like it. People are saying bad stuff like ‘Joshlin is prettier than Shenikah’.
“Shenikah does not want to dance anymore, but I told her she must dance and not let this affect her because she is Shenikah Jacobs. We speak confidence into her and try not to let it get to her.”
Joshlin Smith was last in on February 19,2024.
Image: SAPS