Afrika Botswana (Engl.)

[Gaunerman]

The Brothels of Francistown Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) May 25, 2005 Ryder Gabathuse Francistown If the headquarters of the roaring business of commercial sex work in the city are the main streets, the branches are heavy commercial vehicles on a night stopover and brothels in estates. Besides the main streets of Haskins, Blue Jacket, Selous Avenue, Baines Avenue and others, the women of the night link up with patrons in the trucks or houses of sex in Bluetown, Area-S and Riverside. But some traditionalists are not amused by the fact that the oldest profession is booming here. Others disagree and say it is a way of earning a livelihood. In Bluetown, some of the houses abandoned by people who have relocated to other parts of the city have been turned into brothels. The surroundings tell it all. Behind one of the houses, used condoms and used toilet papers lie in a loose pile. On a hot summer day, the smell of used and discarded condoms becomes pronounced. The problem is compounded by the fact that there are no toilet facilities in the area and the FCC no longer provides services in the estate. Residents in the area strictly mind their own business. To them, having sex is not a secret. The brothels of Bluetown have generally been improvised for the lucrative business. The sex points still attract men from all walks of life. Three or four women occupy a room and they entertain clients in turns. At the end of the day, they smile their way to the shops and finally to neighbouring Zimbabwe where most of them originate. Men coming in and out of the houses know exactly where to get service. Some are even offered services on credit and pay on month-end. "At month-end, the place is even livelier as more vehicles come here and this translates into more money," says Mary (not her real name) who lives in one of the brothels. Mary and some of the women have been in the trade for years. They proudly stated that at least life is better in Botswana than in their native Zimbabwe. She claimed that they were paying rent but could not say who the landlords are. She denied that they were using the houses as brothels. "When our boyfriends visit us, it means this place is a brothel?" To Mary and her friends, life strictly revolves around selling sex. When she first came to Botswana in 2001, she tried her luck as a housemaid but the pay was not much. "At least, I am able to negotiate my salary throughout the day. Well, Batswana are generally struggling but it is better than back home. Batswana men also buy sex like hot fat cakes. Some even choose to sleep here. Yes, they pay for it." Like any other trade, prostitution has both the brighter and darker sides. Some women are bullied in the dark and their assailants violate the agreements knowing that they have nowhere to report, as the trade is illegal. In the city's dark alleys, some women consent to sex without condoms provided they get a fat pay. On a bad day, P10 or less can buy short time sex. A man wielding P50 can have sex as he pleases, with or without a condom and can have the woman the whole night. This mostly applies to low class prostitutes. Although Zimbabwean women have raided the streets of Francistown, Batswana are also in the game. Challenges of life know no boundaries. Five women who live at the Bluetown brothels told Mmegi in an interview that as long as they do not have any sign of ailments, they do not have any business worrying about knowing their status. "To access local health facilities is also expensive for the foreigners," said one. Their defence is that as long as they are in the game, they also know that their lives come first. Francistown City Council (FCC) principal housing officer, Kamogelo Chakaloba, whose department is responsible for the Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) areas, told Mmegi that she was not aware of abandoned houses that have been turned into brothels. Officer Commanding Francistown police district, Senior Superintendent Boikhutso Dintwa said that commercial sex workers keep on changing places and strategies to hide from the police. "The bottom line is that, these women are in the streets for no good reason other than selling sex," he said. He explained that so far, none of the women have been duly identified as prostitutes because it is always difficult to follow them. He blamed men for being willing patrons and helping the trade to thrive despite police efforts. He said he is not aware of abandoned houses where sex is sold. He was however aware of a place known as Mma-Machara's place, where commercial sex workers lodge for a relatively low price.

 

[Gaunerman]

For the record, a monger by the handle of radiate76 found this information first, but I'm going to the effort of bringing it to the Sex Guide instead of keeping it inside the members only forum. In so doing, I have the honor of popping the cherry on the entire nation of Botswana.] Council brings down brothels, late July, 2005. FRANCISTOWN: In an effort to clean up the city, the Francistown City Council (FCC) recently brought down houses used as brothels in Blue Town. The decision follows complaints by some residents that the abandoned houses were generally filthy. The sexual activities taking place at these places caused concern to some elders in the city. They accused the FCC of perpetuating commercial sex. The houses became vacant after the council relocated the owners. They were taken over by illegal immigrants who use them mainly for commercial sex work. Some houses did not have doors and windows but were fitted with plastic bags and cardboard boxes by the new residents. A resident of Blue Town, who lives in the neighbourhood of the flattened brothels, previously raised concern that occupants of the houses lived a strange life. “Their business was to entertain several men who frequented their houses. We know that they were selling sex, which is prohibited here. Worse off, they would simply dump used condoms behind their houses allowing wind and others to simply blow them around messing the whole area,” said an elderly Peter Tshetlho. He said the council had taken a bold step in destroying the houses, though the action came very late because the damage has been done. “These people have left our children here confused as some of them are already into commercial sex business,” he said. Another resident Jonas Moyo is happy that finally the council has brought things under control. “It was not good seeing our children going into those houses in this era of HIV/AIDS. But there was nothing that we could do because that was their business as they were not pushed into it,” said Moyo. He indicated that a lot of residents watched excitedly as the bulldozers brought down the brothels. “At least for now, we have breathing space, and we expect a lot of other houses to be brought down as some people still use them as brothels. It still baffles us why the council took such a long time to address this problem,” Moyo said. Moyo, who claims to have seen many things at the brothels, described what was going on as an insult to Batswana. “Our children are generally copycats of other cultures and traditions. I fear that some of them could have already gone into commercial sex,” he said. He accused the police of being slow in detecting the mushrooming brothels in the city. The council’s principal housing officer Kamogelo Chakaloba told Mmegi yesterday that bringing down the houses was long overdue. She, however, indicated that some of the houses were left because the occupants claimed that they were still in the process of constructing new structures where they were relocated to. “After an interview with your newspaper about the brothels of the city, we followed some of the owners of the houses in the estate and informed them about our impending action of bringing the structures down as they had already received compensation from the council,” she said. Chakaloba added that the council is would take advantage of the mass-service levy campaign to identify each plot owner and “smoke out” squatters. “A lot of people were compensated to move out and yet they are still in such plots or they have rented them out when they know such acts are illegal,” she said.

 

[Gaunerman]

FRANCISTOWN: The Matshelo Community Development Association (MCDA) director, Pedzisani Motlhabani confesses that they are running illegal projects. But she has no regrets and she affirms that the organisation will persevere with the “illegal” side of its work. The NGO is blazing a new path by helping commercial sex workers to live healthy and productive lives and make a difference at the personal and community level. The legality or illegality of commercial sex work does not really matter to MCDA, an organisation which also helps single mothers and unemployed youth. Indeed MCDA would be happier if Botswana had brothels because its work would be easier.

Motlhabani has no illusions and calls the help they provide to commercial workers - the illegal project - because the law of Botswana prohibits prostitution - the oldest profession of the world. She says that Matshelo does not support commercial sex work, but has no choice but to help those engaged in the profession in a bid to fight HIV/AIDS.

“At the moment prostitution in Botswana is operating underground and this makes it difficult for us to work with these commercial sex workers because we don’t know where to find most of them,” says Motlhabani. She adds that if Botswana has brothels, it would be easy to engage the commercial sex workers. She says that one of the main reasons that make people to resort to engage in commercial sex work is that it is an easy way to make quick money. “Instead of working for P250 the whole month, they feel it is easy to make that amount of money in two days,” she explains.

Despite the challenges, MCDA has managed to work with most commercial sex workers in Francistown and the rest of the country. Motlhabani says they have helped many commercial sex workers to have stable relationships and families. Their clients who have not managed to quit the profession only engage in it casually and with protection. She said others have gained respect in their communities courtesy of MCDA.

Motlhabani feels that commercial sex work is a critical issue that should be addressed by government because it involves many things like the spread of HIV/AIDS. She explains that if brothels are introduced, commercial sex workers could be easily targeted and encouraged to go for HIV tests every three months.

“Commercial sex workers fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS and life would be easy if we knew where to find them and how they worked without them shying away because they are rejected by the society and the law,” she says.

Motlhabani says the key method used by MCDA is peer education. “We use a method of teaching called multiple effect whereby we teach people and expect them to teach others,” explains Motlhabani. The organisation teaches commercial sex workers, single mothers and unemployed youth the safest way of protecting their lives. MCDA targets all commercial sex workers operating in Francistown and surrounding areas in a bid to stem the tide against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

“This organisation has always strived to put a face on HIV issues and we are very glad that people are now involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.” Motlhabani explains that initially they had 20 peer educators when they started the NGO at the University of Botswana (UB) in Gaborone. When their contract with UB ran out, they became independent and got registered as an NGO.

MCDA relocated to Francistown in 2001. Now it has more than 300 peer educators with 16 projects across the country. The branches are also engaged with commercial sex workers. “These other branches are feeder points which we work very closely with and there are many volunteers from many countries like United States of America and Canada who help educate our target group about HIV/AIDS.”

Motlhabani says that MCDA trains the youth and commercial sex workers to venture into business. She says that they do not provide them with start up capital but make them aware of the various government departments they could approach for funds like the Department of Youth and Culture.

Motlhabani says that MCDA is funded by Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD).

While the NGO seems to excel and revel in its endeavour to reform commercial sex workers, other organisations are ambivalent about those engaged in the profession. Chalebiwe Nfila, District AIDS Coordinator in Francistown says they are aware of people who engage in commercial sex but they do not specifically target this group. She says they focus on everybody that they feel is at risk of HIV without categorising them down according to their profession. She says that though the law does not recognise commercial sex work, they continue to help organisations that assist those engaged in the profession. The Youth Health Organisation (YOHO) officer Otukile Vuyisele says that they are not directly concerned with commercial sex workers though they recognise that it is a major problem.

“Currently our funds do not allow us to provide commercial sex workers with any help tailored especially for them,” he says. But he concedes that YOHO continues to work with organisations that deal with commercial sex work. NORAD is also involved in capacity building and care for the marginalised groups. Matshelo works with other organisations like the family Health International, CAPACITA International, National Aids Coordination Agency (NACA), United Nations organisations and SADC organisations involved in AIDS.

[As far as Botswana is concerned, in *this* forum, I've gone from popping its cherry to putting that bitch out on the street and making her work.]

 

[Gaunerman]

A MASSIVE clampdown on cross border trading has seen more Zimbabwean women with no source of income, resorting to cross border prostitution.

In the past, unemployed women sold foodstuffs such as dried vegetables (mufushwa), groundnuts and sweet potatoes among many other things in neighbouring countries but their trade is becoming increasingly unprofitable owing to the so-called "Operation Murambatsvina," and other measures adopted by the government to rein in perceived forex leakages.

At its peak, "Operation Murambatswina" blew away flea markets and other "illegal" trading outlets, which provided business for cross border traders. The closure of flea markets left the informal traders, most of who had no other form of employment with nowhere to sell their goods. The tightening of security at the country's borders, which has seen police and customs officials confiscate groceries and other goods has also put a damper on cross-border trade.

A series of poor harvests over the past few years also resulted in the women traders getting insufficient vegetables and other farm products for sale out of the country. Consequently, the women have nothing to sell in Botswana, and nowhere to sell their goods in Zimbabwe.

Traders familiar with the activities of the women say that Botswana was the most popular destination where the sex workers spend up to 10 days in selected lodges or hotels soliciting for clients.

Tsepang Nare, a cross border trader from Gwanda, said it was difficult for the law to catch up with the growing band of traders turned commercial sex workers.

"They always dress like professionals or young business women and there is no way one can suspect them of wrongdoing," Nare said.

The ladies reportedly book in expensive hotels and lodges, some of them costing between 500 and 1000 pula a night. "The type of accommodation they use is evidence enough that these people are making a lot of money. They are dealing with businessmen and other well to do people," added Nare.
A kombi driver who plies the Bulawayo-Gaborone route said that he became very suspicious of a particular young woman who claimed to be a cross border trader but never carried any goods with her.

"The young lady told me that she goes there every two weeks to 'serve her clients.' I thought she was a consultant or something related, and that she was going for a briefing with her clients. It was only after eavesdropping on a telephone call that I realised she was a prostitute," said the driver.

A worker at a leading Botswana hotel said young women with a Zimbabwean accent usually made expensive bookings at their hotel, which most locals could not afford. She, however, said they could not stop the young women as their activities were bringing money to the hotel.

"Our job is to provide accommodation to our clients. As long as they book as a couple, we don't care whether they are married or not. We are in the business of providing accommodation, and we do just that," said the worker.

A young woman who admitted her involvement in cross border prostitution said she had no other source of earning a livelihood since it had become difficult to trade in commodities.

"When we try to bring in some goods for sale, police and customs officials confiscate them. The same happens when we try to take things for sale in Botswana.

"The only safe way is to go and get the foreign currency without getting into trouble with the customs officials," said the 24-year-old woman who only identified herself as Noe. She added that the business was profitable.

"I am now making more money. than when I was still formally employed, but I have to be careful and professional about it," she said.