We have children to feed, say Putfontein sex workers

 They are sitting leisurely under the trees, some on a pile of sand, holding umbrellas to protect themselves against a scorching midday summer sun. 

But they are not oblivious to the danger they are putting themselves in by doing business in this dangerous area., poverty and unemployment have left them with no choice but to sell their bodies there.

These are the sex workers who use the notorious Vermeulen Street in Putfontein in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, as a pick-up spot for their clients.

When Sowetan visited the area at noon last week, six workers were patiently waiting for their next clients, while others had already been picked up.

The prostitutes admitted to knowing about the murders that had occurred in the open field they operate from but vowed to continue doing business there as long as it enabled them to support themselves, their children and families. 

Putfontein was in the news again a fortnight ago when the decapitated body of an unidentified man was found naked and partially burnt in the area. His head has not yet been recovered. It was the 10th body to be found in the area since March.

The police had been patrolling the area with high visibility since March, however, the criminals still found the location a perfect dumping area for bodies. Residents believe the victims are killed elsewhere before their bodies are dumped in the area.

According to police, every two months a body is found along the perimeters of the Zesfontein plots and the Pretoria and Delmas roads. 

Speaking to Sowetan last week, a 39-year-old sex worker and mother of three from Dennilton in Mpumalanga said after struggling to get a job for over 10 years, she had resorted to selling her body two years ago so she could take care of her children and mother back home.

“This is the the busiest time of the year and I’m determined  to work as much as I can so I can buy my children Christmas clothes and make sure they enjoy the festive season like everyone else,”  she said.

“I put myself at risk every day by coming out here in the bushes to scout for customers. We get mugged and sometimes get robbed so we always need to be careful and look out for any strange passersby.”

I had debts and I had my siblings and children to raise, so I left the Eastern Cape and came here to stay with my friends to look for a job. I found nothing,” she said.

Another worker, 33, from Zimbabwe, said she ended up at the spot after realising that her friends were making enough money from prostitution to support their families .

“I arrived here stranded, coming from a very poor family, and I thought I would get a job in SA but I’ve been struggling to find one. Now I use my body to make money,” she said.

The woman said since getting divorced, she had had to support her mother and two children back home.

“My ex-husband made me quit school when he married me at a young age and later left me - and it was too late to go back to school with all the responsibilities I now have.”

She said they charged their clients between R50 and R500, depending on what pleasure was needed.

“Some customers just need the services now and leave but some will book us for the night and pay up to R500 on a good day,” she said.

The woman said now that it was peak time for the festive season, truck drivers were the best customers.

“They pay a lot and if you travel with him for a weekend you come back with more than R1,000 for that two-day period,” she said.

Another worker, a graduate in marketing, said after graduating from Unisa in 2008 she had got a job but got retrenched four years  later.

“I had debts and I had my siblings and children to raise, so I left the Eastern Cape and came here to stay with my friends to look for a job. I found nothing,” she said.

She said one day, while walking to the Putfontein plots to look for a job as a domestic worker, she had met a group of women at Vermeulen Street who introduced her to prostitution.

“It was very hard but I got used to it because every day I would get something to put bread on the table,” she said. The woman said she also sold atchaar and vegetables to make extra cash.

“My eldest daughter sells the vegetables from our home. I have a small shop in the yard and it has been feeding my family well and I cannot wait to be home for Christmas,” she said.

Most of the women said they were renting RDP houses and shacks in the Garbon, Mayfield and Zenzele informal settlements which are about 10km  from their working spot.

“We have to hide that we are sex workers because we fear that we will be judged and called names. But in essence we are not stealing from anyone or committing crimes that will make us end up in prison. We also don’t rob our clients. There are rooms nearby where we do our business and they are safe.”

Police in the Putfontein area said they were aware that the women were in the spot and that patrol cars always made rounds in the area just in case they might need help.