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Selebi’s vice plan hammered
By FRANCOIS DU PLESSIS and SAPA
JOHANNESBURG – Suggestions that prostitution and public drinking be made legal in South Africa for the duration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup have met with widespread condemnation and anger.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi last week asked what police were to do with the scores of visitors engaging in these activities, both of which are illegal.
He suggested the government adopt certain measures to control prostitution and public drinking during the World Cup.
Doctors for Life International over the weekend added its voice to those criticising the police chief’s plans and suggestions.
According to the organisation’s Debbie Toughey, about 40 000 women and children were trafficked into Germany to “accommodate the demand for sex” during last year’s World Cup.
“The same can be expected for South Africa.
“ Women and children are being used as merchandise to cash in on an event, but they will not be the ones to benefit.”
It would rather be international syndicates and drug dealers who made a lot of money out of the event, Toughey said.
“We are appalled by the fact that South Africa would consider rolling out the welcome mat for organised crime syndicates who trade in human lives, exploiting the poor and desperate, and forcing them into the sex trade,” she said.
The Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party have both been reported expressing concern at thesuggestions.
Both political parties claimed the idea sent out mixed signals regarding the country’s fight against HIV/Aids and crime.
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