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Two sisters separated by tragedy for nearly two decades have finally been reunited.
Twenty-two-year-old Wilderness resident, Samantha van der Westhuizen, met her 23-year-old sister, Simone' Lessing, for the first time on Thursday after learning at age 16 that she has two half brothers and a half sister.
They were separated as babies following the tragic passing of their parents Gustav Janse Van Rensburg and mother Elize van Rooyen in 1992.
Wild News, a Wilderness Community newspaper, reported that "Samantha, now 22, found out at the age of 16 that she has two half-brothers and a half-sister from her biological father, Gustav Janse van Rensburg, who died together with Samantha’s biological mother, when she was a baby."
"While she managed to form a relationship with her one half-brother Eugene, years ago, they never managed to find Simone and their other brother Henry until last week."
"Simone and Henry, on the other side of the country, in Benoni and Boksburg respectively, have formed a close brother-sister relationship, and have been searching for Samantha for years."
"They never knew about Eugene, which means that their search for their sister unexpectedly produced a brother as well. Simone found out about Samantha existence when she was twelve years old and came across a photo of her biological father and an unknown baby girl with a striking resemblance to Simone herself."
"After years of fruitless searching, Simone turned to the media in an attempt to find her sister. Following an article in a newspaper, Simone found her biological father, Gustav’s, sister Ursula Haywood, who knew where to get hold of Samantha."
"The two sisters who are only a year apart have surprisingly much in common – not only do they look the same, they also played the same sports and both did modeling work."
"Samantha, who was orphaned as a baby, was raised by relatives of her mother, Lorraine and Jaco van der Westhuizen. She says that while she is excited to meet her sister and brother, Lorraine and Jaco are her only parents and she loves them and the two sisters she grew up with dearly."
