A number of activists and advocacy groups representing sex workers gathered outside the Magistrate Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, where a 21-year-old man was appearing in connection with the murder of at least six women.
Katlego Rasebitse, spokesperson for the Sisonke National Sexworker Movement told journalists outside the court that the repeated calls for sex work to be decriminalised has been falling on deaf ears.
“Today we are out here as the movement, regardless of the fact that these were six sex workers. We want to make sure this lands in the Law Reform Commission’s desk. We have been calling for sex work to be decriminalised for the past 20 years. No one wants to listen to the pleas of sex workers,” said Rasebitse.
“At the end of the day, black women are being targeted, not only by the society, but the police are targeting black sex workers,” he said.
Rasebitse said for some time now, police officers see black women who are sex workers “as they’re ATMs”.
“If the police that hold a high position in the society are able to do all of these things that the sex workers are saying, then normal people like this 21-year-old that killed the six sex workers clearly have taken advantage. There isn’t enough protection for sex workers.
“When sex workers go to report to the police, it’s either they are turned away, or they are told you cannot be raped because you are doing sex work,” he said.
The 21-year-old was appearing before the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, after he was arrested in connection with the murder of six women who are believed to be sex workers.
Gauteng police spokesperson, Brigadier Brenda Muridili said the bodies of the women were discovered on Sunday.
“The police were called to the building due to a foul smell coming out of one of the rooms. That is when a body of a woman was found. A preliminary investigation led the police to the suspect, believed to be the last person seen with the woman.
“It is reported that on October 2, 2022 at 8pm, the suspect was seen with the woman. Her body was discovered on Sunday morning. The clothes she was wearing matches the description of one of the missing persons reported recently,” said Muridili.
Upon questioning the suspect, Muridili said police officers went back to the building and discovered five more bodies outside the building, where there is a makeshift workshop and rubbish dumpsters.
