Judge Nathan Erasmas will hand down judgment today in the High Court in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping and human trafficking case.

This as the two-month-long trial drew to a close after final arguments by lawyers of the accused on Wednesday.

The trio, Joshlin’s mother Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn are on trial in connection with the child’s disappearance from her home in February last year.

After much anticipation from the public over the disappearance of 7-year-old Smith, the case against her mother, Kelly, her boyfriend, Appollis, and Van Rhyn is at its final stage.

The state alleges the trio sold the little girl for R20 000.

Defence lawyers argue that the state has failed to prove its case, pointing to contradictions in testimonies from former accused turned witness, Lourentia Lombard, calling her unreliable.

State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel insists their case is not built solely on her, highlighting that the testimony of another state witness, Steven Nico Coetzee, corroborates Lombard’s statement.

The little girl has not yet been found.

VIDEO | Judgment expected today: