City vows to form task team to enforce bylaws

GLENWOOD and Umbilo residents packed out the Glenwood High School hall on Tuesday night in a bid to voice their opinions on the future of sex workers in Glenwood.

Officials from Metro Police, SAPS, the CPF, Bulwer Community Safety Forum, the ward councillor, Nicole Graham, the deputy city manager, Dr Musa Gumede, Thuli Khoza from Sisonke, Janine Hicks from the Commission for Gender Equality, mediator, Hilda Grobler and local residents were present to try reach consensus and a workable solution to the problem of sex workers in the area.

Presentations were given by various stakeholders after which the floor was opened and those present were invited to raise their concerns. Varied opinions were raised and available solutions were discussed, but in the end it was glaringly obvious to all present that city officials would have to step in and enforce by-laws.

Resident, Graham Muller, as well as Kevin Dunkly from Save Our Berea, pointed out that the city has a stake in the area and a duty to nurture, develop and invest in the community that resided there. “The municipality is not performing and is failing the community. My wife and I have spent money trying to fight unlicenced businesses and we have failed as the city doesn’t support us and is not enforcing by-laws,” said Muller.

Dunkly said: “Sex workers are only a symptom of a bigger problem. The city is the problem. We met with the city manager last Friday and have realised officials are not doing their jobs. The biggest investment some people have made in their lives are their homes, and their properties are being devalued. The city can’t let property values go down the tubes. By-laws need to be implemented.”

Dr Gumede agreed to take a month to work on a solution to see a way forward.

“We are not unaware of the issues and we will take the next month to work on enforcement of by-laws especially business licences. We are committed to reporting back on these issues. We are putting together a team to take care of by-law enforcement as we realise we have given out too many trading licences. We hope to see results from these efforts within a few months,” he said.

Janine Hicks – Commission for Gender Equality:

THE stance of the Commission for Gender Equality was that sex work should be decriminalised in South Africa.

“Sex work is a crime in South Africa, there is no ambiguity around this, whether you are selling, buying or living off the proceeds of sex work. Since 2007 the Law Reform Commission has been looking at how South Africa should respond to sex work. On the agenda is the partial criminalisation of sex work, such as in Sweden, and the model has been put forward for South Africa. The current perspective is not working and is leading to human rights abuses and fueling the Aids pandemic,” she said.

Hicks said the partial criminailisation entailed sex work in certain zones, which would entail licences, health checks and which would be controlled by the government.

“Decriminalisation is required in South Africa as the only way to protect rights. It would mean consensual adult sexual behaviour, not involving minors or trafficking,” she said.

Thuli Khoza – Sisonke Sex Workers’ Movement

SISONKE is an organisation to protect sex workers regardless of the race or gender and advocates their rights.

“We are tired of being abused, isolated and disrespected. We are harrassed by the police, are working in unsafe environments where we are victimised by clients and the community. We are willing to listen and meet the community half way to see a way forward,” she said.

Community response

THE Umbilo CPF chairman, Ben Madokwe said residents and businesses had an issue with sex workers’ attitude and behaviour and the fact children were exposed to them lifting their skirts in broad daylight to impress so-called clients.

“The women have no regard for the fact there are families in the area. There is also an influx of B&Bs in the areas, as well as the women, in one way or another, being involved in drugs. These women are feeding their drug habits, not their families and as a CPF we are here to see a way forward, the issue is not going to resolve itself,” he said.

Ward councillor, Nicole Graham, said one of the biggest issues she has dealt with since taking office was the issue of prostitution in the area.

“I personally don’t believe in criminalisation, but the community is unanimously rejecting sex work on the streets. This is an active community which is trying to improve the state of the area. I am doing my best to work on enforcing by-laws. We don’t want sex work in the area as it has a disastrous effect on society, we need a broader solution to the issue,” she said.

The community’s opinions varied, with some, like Lucky Mshengu, stating the women were not welcome in the area, and others who said their property value was being affected and school children were being exposed to this unwanted behaviour, while others, such as Greg Louw, felt although he didn’t condone sex work in the area, they had rights and needed some sort of rehabilitation to integrate them into the community.

Conflicting views came from residents, such as Darren Scott, who felt it was up to people what they wanted to do with their bodies, and another resident who felt prostitution was only a symptom of some deeper social problem. Another resident felt there needed to be a better understanding of what decriminalisation meant and a workshop should be held, as rehabilitation would not work with people who didn’t want to leave the job.