DESPITE the fact that the proposed law to legalize the sale of sex in South Africa has not yet been passed, but the traffickers seem to be taking to social media.
This is proven by the prevalence of groups on Facebook and other places where sex is sold. And sthe number of people who are part of the existing pages is high as some of them have more than 27,000 followers, others have more than 95,000 people until it reaches more than 100,000.
A legal expert, Mr. Mpumelelo Zikalala, said that the law in this country still does not allow sex trafficking and that if you are caught doing that – you are at risk of facing the wrath of the law.
That is proven by the fact that according to the clause of the Sexual Offenses Act No. 23 of 1957, sex trafficking is a crime that can put you at risk of going to prison for three years or being fined.
Even though the law is so clear, the sex trade is becoming more and more popular as it is being advertised in the forums of those who are looking for sex that does not need an explanation.
“Although there are people who use social media to sell sex, the law still says that it is an act against them. The only problem in this case is that it is difficult to prosecute someone who is accused of that if you do not have proof that what he advertises on social media has actually been done, that is why it is not common for people who do this work to be arrested,” said Zikalala.
He revealed that another dangerous thing about sex trade like this is that it puts you at risk of being robbed because it is possible that you meet a stranger and he is a criminal – and then you lose your property or get injured, sometimes you die. And it is difficult if something bad happens to you in this situation to be able to take advantage of the law because you are involved in something illegal.
In the investigation ofof this country, it is clear that the owners of the pages know what they are aiming for. He says that as soon as he walks in, he comes across pictures of different women on the deck, some of them are playing in frog suits, others are dressed in a way that clearly shows that they have come to play, they are working.
The texts accompanying their pictures to attract customers make it clear what kind of work they do as many of them clearly state that they are looking for men to buy sex. In some cases, they even leave phone numbers where they can be reached and say where and at what times of the day you will find those you need.
Those who joined these groups also get the opportunity to write their applications. Others hide their identity, they say where they are and where they need a lady to entertain them in the room, at what time and for how long. When such a text comes in, the ladies respond quickly, showing that they are ready to satisfy that man.
Another thing that has become common is the inclusion of videos showing people enjoying sex on these social networks. Sometimes he says that he just goes to Facebook or X and comes across videos of women playing with their private parts, seducing men. In some practice videos are posted where the texts that have been posted are discussed. Usually there is a text that says: “Come on, here’s a link in the comments.” And if you pay attention to where comments are made, you will see that others are answering each other about how they are going to plan to see each other, “trick the animals”.
Apart from that, there are many other famous ladies who have come out publicly saying that they got most of what they have in life by trading their ‘monster’, some of them reveal the amount of money they have made from this job, they are proud of how much they have earned.
Some of those ladies who do not shy away from doing this work include Wandile Ndlovu known as Wandi, Noluvuyo Sodela known as Bubbly, Refiloe Molwantwa known as Gina and Xoli Mfeka, to name a few.
This practice of selling sex on social media seems to make the life of “prostitutes” easier as they always complain about being harassed by the police when they stand on street corners.
Another manifestation of this practice is the risk of not being properly controlled by social media. Social media administrators rely heavily on their users to report violations or inappropriate content.
As all this happened, a few months ago it appeared that the issue of passing a law authorizing the sex trade in the country is at its peak.
However, due to a disagreement on something, it ended up being deadlocked on this issue – as the legal scholars had finally cried that there must be a specific plan on how sex trafficking will be controlled so that it is not dangerous.
The Head of the Communications Unit of the Department of Community Development, Ms. Sandy Godlwana, said: “Our Department does not have the power to prevent the promotion of this project on social media and this issue is still under the law which will be the one that will ultimately decide on the final decision.”
