I am not really sure what to write here. Frankly I am disgusted! These women are treated badly enough by their client's and society itself and then to be turned on by the very people that are charged with protecting them is disgusting! What is even more disgusting is that it is clear that many know that it is happening and yet nothing is done - to them I say "Shame on you!"
'Talk to the news and you die'
January 18 2007 at 06:45AM
By Graeme Hosken and Janine du Plessis'
If any of you speak to the Pretoria News, we'll kill you." This is what one of the policemen captured on film by the newspaper while beating a prostitute, 17, into a coma, allegedly told other prostitutes on, hours after the Pretoria News broke the story. A woman, known as Judy, said following publication of the story, police had been out in force in Johann Street where Monday night's attack occurred, threatening to "deal with anyone who spoke to the media". "These cops are serious. They will think nothing of taking us out. They can make us disappear and they will do it," she said.
'He would bliksem' us'
'He would bliksem' us'
Judy is not the only sex worker running scared."When the police came around today they rounded us up. A policeman who beat the girl on Monday was waving the (Pretoria News) at us, saying that if he found out who spoke he would 'bliksem' us. He said they would beat the living crap out of us and make us regret the day for the rest of our lives," said Nololiso, another prostitute.
Judy said the police did what they wanted when they wanted. "To them you are their property. They own you and if you do not do what they tell you to do they f**k you up." She said police drove in convoys targeting groups of sex workers at the same time.
A Pretoria police clerk, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that she feared for the safety of her daughter, who is a prostitute.
'Forcing them to have sex with them for years'
"I have not heard from her since the attack. I do not know where she is. I cannot reach her on the phone."I have opened numerous cases for her against policemen who have beaten her, but they all just simply disappear because of a lack of evidence." These cops are a mafia. They all work together. They rule the streets with an iron fist and they will think nothing of hurting and maiming these girls."It is no joke. This police brutality has to be stopped," she said.
Lebo, an Arcadia prostitute, said Sunnyside police had been harassing sex workers and forcing them to have sex with them for years. "Before I leave at night, I know there is more chance of me being beaten up by the police than getting a bad client. "We run away from them because we are scared, not because we don't want to be arrested," said Lebo. She said she was often forced to have sex with police, who regularly beat them up.
Lebo said police did not use marked vehicles, but were in police uniform. "They take off their name tags and this is why we can never identify them," she said. "Police have kicked in my door and searched my flat with no warrant. This is an excuse to steal my cellphone and other items."If they can catch us they beat us and always take our money," she said.
Officers also "charged" them R300 not to be arrested, she said. "There are no records of the arrest and we don't sign anything." The retribution is going to be severe, say street social workers and policemen trying to help protect sex workers. "The police are going to be aggressive ... and vicious," said Jane Mashiane, a Lerato House outreach co-ordinator.
Mashiane, who fears for her own safety when she works with the prostitutes on the streets, said: "I am worried. "I've warned the women that police have seen the article and will be more aggressive. I told them to be careful." She said it was sad that these women were petrified of police. A Sunnyside police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said the bribery of sex workers was rife."They bribe with the promise of protection. "They do so because it is easy money and they know there will be no comebacks," he said.
Police from all over Pretoria CBD were involved in the prostitution racketeering industry, he claimed. "It is a small mafia. Often the corrupt policemen and women, who are not only from Sunnyside police station but also Pretoria Central, Pretoria West and Brooklyn police stations, act as pimps."As pimps they provide transport, ensure the women are not arrested if raids are being carried out and protect them if they are being intimidated by other police officers or pimps," the officer said.
A Pretoria Central policewoman said it was common to find police transporting prostitutes. "If we stop them and ask them where they are going they tell us they have arrested them. But more often than not you know that they are being transported to their next client or to a quiet spot to perform a quick trick for that policeman," she said. The policewoman said those members involved in the extortion rackets could make thousands of rands a month as a result of their acting as pimps. "It is an extremely lucrative business with police often demanding more than 60 percent of the prostitute's night takings.
This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on January 18, 2007
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