Unlike their curbside counterparts, the ladies and gentlemen of the night market their services by posting their butts, naked pictures and tools of their trade on free classified website www. Although the website is also used by sex workers elsewhere in South Africa, the Soweto sex traders have hailed it for increasing the number of clients. According to the website, they charge R for a minute romp, R for 30 minutes, R for an hour and R for a night of passion.
Most cited the high unemployment rate as a reason for heading into the sex trade. Sowetan also found that they use fake names, have dedicated telephone numbers for their work and they operate from units they rent.
All the women Sowetan interviewed emphasise that they use condoms and do not do house calls as they regard these as life threatening. They said they rent a house for not longer than a year, before moving into another township. So what needs to happen is [for] government to decriminalise sex work and make it safe for everyone working on the street, brothel or internet.
Some of the neighbours of sex workers who are operating from the comfort of their homes have pleaded ignorance about the trade. Soweto resident Hendrick Makola was taken aback when asked about his neighbour's activities in a house nearby. Makola condemned the operation, saying it could rub off negatively on youngsters who might see it as an easy way out should they struggle to find jobs.
Another neighbour, who asked not be named, revealed that the information only came to light after his friend recently brought it to his attention. Napo Lephalale, who has been living in White City for more than 30 years, said he first heard about the sex trade rumours in February. He said, however, prostitutes could work for men who "don't want to cheat" and prefer "buying" sex on the side as there were no strings attached. Lephalale's neighbour Pamela Ndlovu said she has never heard of or seen signs of the sex workers operating in the area.
