February 20, 2004
By Thomas Thale
SHORTLY after arriving in the City of Gold from Natal in 2002, 20-year-old Maggie Gugushe (not her real name) took to the streets to sell her body.
Her hopes of finding a decent job in Joburg had been dashed and her network of friends from back home convinced her sex work was the only way to survive in the heartless urban jungle. Penniless, and in danger of losing her accommodation in the dingy hotel room she shared with three others, Gugushe gave in and set out to find clients.
Every night, along Mooi Street, she peddles her body. For just R20, she provides a service to men in the underground parking bays of derelict buildings around the eastern part of the city. Her clients are mainly motorists - including married men, long distance taxi drivers and truck drivers who have beds in their trucks - all in search of a quick release.
Gugushe is just one of about 1 000 sex workers who operate from the dangerous streets of the city. But, since last year, about 60 of them have taken part in a pilot rehabilitation and reintegration programme run jointly by the City of Johannesburg and Mathomomayo, an NGO which works on victim empowerment. The intervention of the City, says Vicky Shuping, director of Region 9, is predicated on sensitivity to the plight of the sex workers. "We still consider sex work to be a criminal offence, but our focus is pragmatic."
On this particular Thursday morning, Gugushe arrives at the Region 9 offices in Springfield to address city councillors about the plight of sex workers. She is one of the success stories of the rehabilitation programme and this year registered to complete her matric at Jeppe College.
"Do I look like one? Do I talk like one?" she asks, her voice quivering. Dressed in a plain white vest, with beads adorning her head and shoulders, and with a traditional cloth wrapped around her waist, Gugushe looks like a village maiden about to take part in a traditional reed dance ceremony. "We are not proud of what we do. We feel hated. It is not nice to sleep with a man who is old enough to be your grandfather. We have kids and parents to take care of. We want to change - please help us." She breaks down in tears and the house falls silent. "Many of us have been stabbed, raped, thrown out of moving vehicles, stripped naked and painted."
Her presentation is short, but moving. She pleads for acceptance and the councillors and City officials nod in agreement.
In his response, Executive Mayor Amos Masondo pledges the City's support "in finding solutions. We can't be judgemental. We are not out to condemn. We want you to know that there's such a thing as a mountain top, and, with determination, you can reach it."
But the scene becomes even more emotional as one by one, sex workers rise, many in tears, to introduce themselves. Young women from Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth, Sebokeng, Lenasia and Protea Glen state their names, where they come from and their wishes.
These women, says Tebogo Matoane, managing director of Mathomomayo, are driven to prostitution by desperation. In 2003, Matoane and her team of four researchers, paid by Region 9, conducted a survey on sex workers in the city. The survey found that many sex workers are new migrants to the city who come in search of Joburg's elusive gold. Some young girls from the rural areas, says Matoane, see prostitution as a vacation job. "They come here to work in December and go back home in January to attend school," Matoane says. Eventually, these students settle in the city and become full time sex workers. "Once they start," says Matoane, "chances are they'll never leave."
According to Matoane, street sex workers work under hazardous conditions. Many are subjected to demeaning sexual acts. "They are made to sleep with dogs, get mugged and assaulted. Some have even lost their lives on the streets."
Those who have joined the rehabilitation programme have formed a support group and attend weekly workshops to share experiences and learn life skills.
"From the outset, we identified a need for an integrated approach to ensure a holistic response to the various needs expressed by the young commercial sex workers and those could be physical, psychological and emotional, socio-economic, and other needs," says Matoane. Other bodies that have given their support to the rehabilitation programme are the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the Johannesburg Roads Agency, the Gauteng Youth Directorate, Umsombovu Youth Fund and the South African Police Services.
Their approach in dealing with the young women, says Matoane, is not to be judgmental but to be open-minded. "Because of negative societal attitudes, many see themselves as outcasts, isolated."
Many have now been placed in schools to continue with their studies. They now attend school during the day, but still conduct business at night. "We are determined to pass," says Gugushe. But there is one stumbling block. "It is not easy to concentrate at school because we are so tired. We need a place to stay, where we won't have to work at night and can concentrate on our school work."
Responding to her plea, Shuping promises to do her best to find such accommodation. "We will explore the possibility of establishing a rehabilitation village." The young women leave the meeting in the knowledge that, for once, they had a voice and their pleas have reached sympathetic ears. "I would like to see them reintegrated with their families and leading positive, productive lives," says Matoane.
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