Cape Town - The media will not be allowed to report on the testimony of 19-year-old Zephany Nurse when she takes the stand to testify for the State in the sentencing proceedings against her kidnapper in August.
On Monday, Western Cape High Court Judge John Hlophe ordered that her evidence be held in camera and that four reports, including victim impact assessments of Zephany, her biological parents and the probation officer’s report, also not be disclosed to the public.
State prosectuor Evadne Kortje told the court the reports contained sensitive and personal information.
Zephany Nurse was kidnapped from her mother’s Groote Schuur Hospital bedside on April 30, 1997. She had been born by C-section to Morne and Celeste Nurse on April 28.
The accused in the case, who cannot be named to protect the new identity she gave Zephany Nurse, was convicted of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act in March.
Hlophe revoked the Lavender Hill woman’s bail when he convicted her two months ago and she has been behind bars ever since.
Sentencing proceedings were due to start on Monday, but defence lawyer Reaz Khan told the court that he had been waiting for the written judgement since March, but had only received it on Monday morning. He said he needed it for reports that were being compiled for purposes of sentencing.
Zephany’s biological father, Morne Nurse, prayed with family members on the steps of the High Court before addressing the media.
He said the family was disappointed about the delay. “We have to wait another two months. We are actually not very happy about the proceedings at this stage, but I do want to thank local media for supporting the family for the last nineteen years.”
Nurse, his former wife Celeste, and their other three children celebrated Zephany’s birthday every year while she was missing, and photos were published in local papers as they tried to maintain awareness about their missing daughter.
In a twist of fate, their younger daughter started high school at the same school as Zephany and classmates noticed that the two bore a striking resemblance.
When she told her father, he took the two girls out for lunch and asked Zephany questions about her past. He believed she could be her missing daughter and later informed the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks). DNA tests confirmed she was in fact his biological child.
The woman Zephany believed had been her mother was arrested in February last year. Zephany has not been allowed contact with her kidnapper since then. Zephany will come face to face with her for the first time in seventeen months when she takes the stand in August.
Zephany is currently living with the kidnapper’s husband, the man she believed to be her father. However, she has had trouble bonding with her biological family.
Nurse told reporters on Monday: “It hasn’t been easy for us. It hasn’t been an easy time that we are going through. We can’t handle it anymore. We’re tired. The world can’t blame us for what this lady is going through. She is in the court’s hands. She is in the hands of the law, and the law must do what it has to do. She made her bed so she must lie in it.”
African News Agency