Many sex workers in the Northern Cape say the delay in decriminalising their occupation endangers lives and infringes on their rights to earn an income.

Zulu says talks with sex workers are ongoing. She addressed sex workers and different civil society organisations in Kimberley on Wednesday.

“The Bill should be going to Cabinet later this year or early next year and we are inserting part of the dialogue we had with the sex workers into the draft Bill, then the Bill will go for public comment.”

Zulu adds: “And then when it comes back in 90 days we will consolidate and send it back to Parliament. So, the timeline is that by March 2024, decriminalisation must have happened.”

Sex workers in the Northern Cape say they want the decriminalisation of sex work to be fast-tracked.

Many in Kimberley and surrounding areas say they work under harsh conditions with some violent clients who abuse them physically and financially.

They say secondary victimisation by the police has also become rife.

“Most of them - not all of them - are treating us very badly. You just feel that when you are facing a situation where you are beaten up by a client who does not want to pay you, you go to the authorities for help and when you get there, you find that they reject you, they threaten you, they discriminate against you, they do very bad stuff to us. At the end of the day, you are scared to go to the police for help.”

SABC News