'No prostitutes on the menu'
9 April 2010, 15:07
By Clayton Barnes
2010 Writer
The City has warned soccer fans to stay away from illegal brothels and not to expect an array of sex workers and child prostitutes on the streets during the World Cup.
"People must not expect to find prostitutes on the menu when they come to Cape Town," JP Smith, the city's safety and security mayoral committee member, said yesterday.
With just nine weeks to the tournament kick-off, the city's vice squad is closing in on illegal brothels and prostitution rings.
Smith said there was a comprehensive policing strategy in place for the World Cup, which included clearing the streets of prostitutes and closing all illegal brothels.
He said the number of child prostitution cases was increasing in the lead up to the soccer showpiece, and that most of the prostitutes caught roaming the streets were immigrants.
"It's hair-raising stuff," said Smith.
"A girl was rescued just as she was about to be sold and trafficked abroad a few weeks ago in Grassy Park. The traffickers shaved her head and she was about to be transported out of Cape Town. Luckily the vice squad was tipped off."
Smith warned fans to stay away from brothels to prevent getting hurt or robbed.
"We are monitoring a number of brothels across the city and will close them down," he said.
"We want a safe environment for the visitors and don't want anyone to get hurt."
Neil Arendse of the city's vice squad said the unit would be monitoring the prostitution hotspots over the next few weeks.
He said a 13-year-old girl was picked up in the northern suburbs recently.
"The girl, who is now in the care of social services, said her mother had forced her into prostitution from the age of 11," said Arendse.
"All the documents have been handed over to the police, who are investigating. These are the shocking realities we have to deal with at night."
It is believed that 40 000 women and children were moved in for the World Cup in Germany in 2006.
Susan Kreston, a Fulbright professor and research fellow at the Centre for Psychology and Law at the University of the Free State, said traffickers and pimps would exploit the opportunity of the World Cup with promises of jobs and thousands of dollars in cash.
Tough economic times and the five-week mid-year school holiday may lead to both adults and children searching for opportunities to get their hands on extra cash.
"Debt bondage is just one of the many ways people get trapped," Kreston said.
"The trafficker would offer the adult or child large amounts of money, or make promises of a good job with a good lifestyle in one of the 2010 host cities or abroad, but then the victims would be expected to sell their bodies."
A total of 12,3 million people were trafficked annually across the world, she said, adding that one in 10 of these was a child.
Children from as young as six faced a future of being sexually violated up to six times a day.
Patric Solomons, director of child rights group Molo Songololo, said child prostitution rings were growing rapidly.
He said police in Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Athlone, Delft and Eerste River were investigating reports of children being prostituted.
2010 Writer
The City has warned soccer fans to stay away from illegal brothels and not to expect an array of sex workers and child prostitutes on the streets during the World Cup.
"People must not expect to find prostitutes on the menu when they come to Cape Town," JP Smith, the city's safety and security mayoral committee member, said yesterday.
With just nine weeks to the tournament kick-off, the city's vice squad is closing in on illegal brothels and prostitution rings.
Smith said there was a comprehensive policing strategy in place for the World Cup, which included clearing the streets of prostitutes and closing all illegal brothels.
He said the number of child prostitution cases was increasing in the lead up to the soccer showpiece, and that most of the prostitutes caught roaming the streets were immigrants.
"It's hair-raising stuff," said Smith.
"A girl was rescued just as she was about to be sold and trafficked abroad a few weeks ago in Grassy Park. The traffickers shaved her head and she was about to be transported out of Cape Town. Luckily the vice squad was tipped off."
Smith warned fans to stay away from brothels to prevent getting hurt or robbed.
"We are monitoring a number of brothels across the city and will close them down," he said.
"We want a safe environment for the visitors and don't want anyone to get hurt."
Neil Arendse of the city's vice squad said the unit would be monitoring the prostitution hotspots over the next few weeks.
He said a 13-year-old girl was picked up in the northern suburbs recently.
"The girl, who is now in the care of social services, said her mother had forced her into prostitution from the age of 11," said Arendse.
"All the documents have been handed over to the police, who are investigating. These are the shocking realities we have to deal with at night."
It is believed that 40 000 women and children were moved in for the World Cup in Germany in 2006.
Susan Kreston, a Fulbright professor and research fellow at the Centre for Psychology and Law at the University of the Free State, said traffickers and pimps would exploit the opportunity of the World Cup with promises of jobs and thousands of dollars in cash.
Tough economic times and the five-week mid-year school holiday may lead to both adults and children searching for opportunities to get their hands on extra cash.
"Debt bondage is just one of the many ways people get trapped," Kreston said.
"The trafficker would offer the adult or child large amounts of money, or make promises of a good job with a good lifestyle in one of the 2010 host cities or abroad, but then the victims would be expected to sell their bodies."
A total of 12,3 million people were trafficked annually across the world, she said, adding that one in 10 of these was a child.
Children from as young as six faced a future of being sexually violated up to six times a day.
Patric Solomons, director of child rights group Molo Songololo, said child prostitution rings were growing rapidly.
He said police in Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Athlone, Delft and Eerste River were investigating reports of children being prostituted.
- This article was originally published on page 7 of The Cape Argus on April 09, 2010
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