Reuniting not the end of pain, mother warns Zephany's family
Delores Cyster, also of Cape Town, is probably the only woman in South Africa who knows what Celeste Nurse must be going through.
Nurse's daughter Zephany was snatched from her arms 17 years ago, three days after she gave birth at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Cyster's daughter, Johnnica Ambral, was kidnapped by her baby-sitter when she was just two years old. The 52-year-old said she had a nervous breakdown, but refused to stop looking for her child.
In 2012, 19 years later, Cyster was reunited with her daughter. Police tracked her down after the death of her kidnappers - who had taken the child to Port Elizabeth.
But there was no happy ending for mother and daughter. Ambral, now 24, moved back to Port Elizabeth and has limited telephonic contact with Cyster. Ambral was an adult and a mother of two when she met her biological family.
"She sat on a chair and stared at all the people in the room. I walked to her and asked: 'Do you know who I am?' She did not. I asked her to stand and she was as tall as I was. The last time I saw her she was just a baby. I then said: 'I am your mother.' And I broke down in tears," said Cyster.
They spent just eight months together in Cape Town before Ambral's boyfriend convinced her to return to Port Elizabeth.
"I prayed, asking God just to grant me one chance to see my child before I die. But we were together for what seemed like a wink of an eye."
When Zephany's story surfaced, Cyster said all the pain and emotion came flooding back.
She started writing a letter to Nurse: "If she is placed in your care [remember] she has been through a lot. So please bear in mind that some things are still confusing to her."
Cyster encouraged Celeste's husband, Morne, and the rest of the family to be patient with Zephany and never give up on building their relationship.
"I know what Zephany's mother must be going through. It is very difficult for her. All I would want to do is speak to her, support her," said Cyster. "Because for me, it feels as if my daughter is still missing. It doesn't have to be the same for her."