The Lavender Hill woman found guilty of kidnapping Zephany Nurse said given the chance, she would "do it again".
|||Cape Town - Despite facing a 10-year jail term, a Lavender Hill woman said raising a kidnapped infant as her own was the highlight of her life and, given the chance, would “do it again”.
Hours before she was convicted of kidnapping, fraud and contravening sections of the Children’s Act, the woman, who cannot be named to protect the true identity of Zephany Nurse, said if she could turn back time she would choose to take the newborn baby “given” to her by a woman, only known as Sylvia, at Wynberg railway station.
A sombre mood settled over Castello’s Bistro, opposite the Western Cape High Court, as the 51-year-old woman and her husband seated themselves at the corner table. She disguised herself with a leopard print scarf and sunglasses as she opened up about the turmoil she had experienced since discovering Zephany was taken from her mother’s arms at Groote Schuur Hospital on April 30, 1997.
Smiling as she recalled the bright-eyed baby she raised for 18 years in Lavender Hill with her quiet husband, the seamstress said Zephany was still very much part of her life, even though she had not had contact with the girl since she was arrested by the Hawks on February 25 last year.
It has been a year of hell for the family of the kidnapper and Zephany’s biological relatives. The woman’s husband has supported her, despite her lying to him about miscarrying their child and passing Zephany off as her own.
The conflicted girl has opted to stay with the man who raised her because her relationship with her biological family is strained, the woman said.
She said although she was proud to call herself the mother of a young woman “as special” as Zephany, she was overwhelmed by hope after Zephany was reunited with her biological parents.
“I am very glad it’s over and I am glad she found her biological parents. I am really sorry. I had to tell her the truth myself, but she found out this way.
“I hope she (Zephany) will forgive me. To Celeste Nurse (Zephany’s biological mother), I want to say again, go to your daughter, go win her back. You are her mother. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but go to her and win her back. A mother’s love is strong and she will give in.”
In court, Celeste, 37, burst into tears when Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe announced his guilty verdict.
While handing down judgment, Judge Hlophe said the woman was convicted of serious crimes and there was a possibility she could be sentenced for up to 10 years in jail.
Celeste and Morné tried to give a united front and were visibly relieved when the judgment was read. Celeste said: “My relationship with my daughter is all that matters.”
The woman was denied bail and has been remanded until sentencing on May 30.
Morné, 38, was reunited with his daughter in a strange twist of fate, almost two decades after she was kidnapped from a maternity ward.
He was prompted by his 17-year-old daughter, Cassidy, to speak to a girl who remarkably resembled her.
Morné described an instant connection with the girl and when she said her birth date was the same date his daughter disappeared, he knew it was fate.
The Hawks investigated the evidence and collected DNA from the woman and her husband that confirmed Zephany was not their biological daughter.
gadeeja.abbas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
