Johannesburg - Born to one mother and raised by another, Zephany Nurse is now hoping that the woman who stole her as a baby will be released on parole.
Twenty-six years after she was kidnapped by Lavona Solomon, Zephany, raised as Miche Solomon, said she would be happy if her abductor is granted parole next Wednesday.
“If she comes home, I will be happy that she has been rehabilitated, to move on with her life and start afresh. We are trying to live our lives and not give too much detail,” she said.
Solomon is in the seventh year of her 10-year prison sentence and faces another parole hearing at the Worcester Female Prison.
In 2016, she was convicted of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act. She was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
Three-day-old Zephany was snatched by Solomon from Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town in April,1997.
Seventeen years later the Nurses found their daughter.
Their youngest daughter, Cassidy, had attended the same school as Miche and many people noticed their close resemblance. The two girls became friends.
Later, DNA tests revealed Miche was, in fact, the Nurses’ long-lost daughter.
During the trial, it was revealed that Solomon had suffered miscarriages and was desperate to have a child of her own. The court heard how she wanted a baby so that her partner, Michael, would marry her.
Solomon denied stealing the infant and claimed a woman named “Sylvia” had handed her the baby at Wynberg Station but this was dismissed by the court as a “fairy tale”".
It was also revealed that Michael never knew that Miche Zephany was not his biological daughter.
For the past two weeks Solomon has undergone a second session of Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD) with Miche Zephany and her family at the prison.
Her father, Morné Nurse, said he believed Solomon was beyond rehabilitation and that she cried “crocodile tears” during proceedings and showed no remorse.
He said they were emotionally drained and focused on placing the parole proceedings behind them in order for Solomon to serve her full sentence.
During last year’s VOD, Solomon admitted to her crimes.
“What I can say, we had our VOD and that woman is still the same,” Morné said. “I don’t think she can be rehabilitated, I don’t think that’s possible. A year ago she still lied. We had to force the truth out of her, we had to force her at the VOD. You can see the tears is tears to be released, not true remorse. We are so sick and tired of this woman. We want no association with her. We are walking around with severe scars.”
In March, Miche Zephany Sheldon tied the knot, and Morné walked her down the aisle
In the documentary movie “Girl Taken”, produced by Showmax, Miche Zephany shared her close relationship with Solomons’ husband, Michael, who continues to play an active role in her life and that of her children.
Attempts to reach Michael for comment were unsuccessful.
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said they would not discuss parole procedures with third parties, when asked about the VOD.
A year ago, DCS confirmed Solomon had been part of her first parole hearing and the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board deemed it necessary for her to undergo further interventions as part of her rehabilitation path.
Nxumalo said a decision was taken that she would undergo further assessments by specialists, including the VOD, and that her profile would have to be submitted again in July 2023.
Meanwhile, Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger have been successful in their parole bid and released after 28 years in prison. The pair were convicted of the rape and attempted murder of Alison Botha.
Nxumalo said the two men had been placed into the community corrections system where they need to comply with parole conditions and would be subject to supervision for the rest of their lives.
Botha was raped and viciously attacked in 1994 by the duo in bushes at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s South campus and miraculously survived, crawling from bushes to the roadside where she was helped by a motorist.