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Tuesday 11 December 2012
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Jolly season for prostitutes TAMMY PETERSEN
AS BONUSES flood bank accounts, an illicit trade is planning to make a killing this festive season. Prostitutes have made a comeback in Athlone Industria, about a year after intensive patrols by police and Law Enforcement officers saw the ladies of the night find alternative spots to do business. But locals say some of the old faces – and a few new ones – have put on their working shoes and are again walking Athlone’s once notorious “red-light district”. Resident Riyaad Samodien says more “scantily-clad women” have been prowling the streets since the end of November. After returning from a night out recently, he was flashed by a “rather large” woman who tried to coax him into making use of her service. “I always knew the ladies who stroll around in the industrial area were prostitutes, but it’s the first time I was personally approached like this. I was disgusted; this is a respectable neighbourhood where children are being raised,” he says. About three regulars ply their trade in the factory-lined streets during the day, while close to 20 apparently roam the darkness every night. “There was a point where police would constantly be doing rounds here,” says Athlone resident Amina Dreyer. “This place was infested with these women and the police’s blue lights eventually saw them scatter and not return. But recently they started flocking back here. It’s worse than it was before.” A security guard at one of the factories, who asks to be known only as Themba, says he too has noticed more of “those women” hanging around the industrial area. “I chase them away because they stand and drink or do drugs right in the open. They are the reason why there are always cars driving
Photo posed
around here in the middle of the night. They also steal and make a nuisance of themselves,” he says. When People’s Post visited the area on Friday, three prostitutes were pointed out by scrap metal collectors. “I have to be their Superman every time,” Ganief Izaks says as he picks up cans on the side of the road. “Just last week, one of these women was stabbed by one of her customers. I threw a brick at him and he sped off. When I told her to phone the police, she told me to mind my own business,” he says. “This area is pitch dark at night.
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average, but December sees her “bonus” come in. “I have been doing this for long enough to know that when the men get that 13th cheque, they look for some fun,” Melissa says. “That’s when I am at my busiest. Last year I made R1 500 on Christmas Eve.” She hit the streets after she came to Cape Town in hopes on finding a job as a domestic worker. When she realised work was scarce and her savings started running out, she told herself that “desperate times call for desperate measures”. “I had to pay my board at the hokkie where I live in Manenberg and
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All sorts of things go on here. They stand and pose between the factories and wait for the men in their BMWs and Mercs to come and pick them up. They are busy with nonsense.” Melissa has been working on the streets for four years. She previously plied her trade on Lansdowne Road, but because “die blok was benoud”, she recently relocated to Athlone Industria. “I don’t know why everyone makes such a big deal out of this,” she says. “It’s nobody’s business what I do here, except mine.” She makes about R200 a night on
my parents, who are in Prince Albert, were waiting for me to send money home. My first night was a disaster – I only made R40. After watching the other girls do it, I learned some tricks and started raking in the cash.” She has come to terms with the business she is involved in, but “meddling and bored people” make her job unnecessarily difficult, Melissa says. The 26-year-old claims Rylands residents sometimes harass her by shouting obscenities and flickering their lights at her. Once, she says, a resident who tried to chase her away from the corner she was standing on even chucked an empty juice bottle at her. “We are also just trying to make a living,” she argues. “When you have a family to support and are left to fend for yourself, you have to do whatever it takes to survive. I would like to see how those in my situation would cope.” Constable Zita Norman, the spokesperson for Athlone police, says the prostitutes are “taking a chance” as patrols have remained constant despite the dwindling number of working girls. “As part of our festive season plan, we will be even more intensive in our approach. Each area is prioritised over this period,” she says. The operation to keep the industrial area prostitute-free is a joint initiative between the police and Law Enforcement, Norman adds. Ward councillor Junade Hoosain says the Vice Squad, a unit specially-established by the City of Cape Town to deal with prostitution, is monitoring the activity in the industrial area and are “fully aware” of the spike in ladies of the night. “Officers are collecting surveillance footage so that not only the prostitutes but also their customers can be caught,” he says. “The customers are well-off men driving top of the range cars. They are on our radar. Once we have enough evidence, there will be repercussions.”
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