Organisations representing sex workers have gathered outside the Johannesburg magistrate’s court where the man accused of killing six women will make his first appearance.
Members of Sisonke Sex Workers Forum stood at the entrance of the court on Tuesday morning with placards written “my work should not cost my life”, among others.
Katlego Rasebitse, the spokesperson for the organisation, said the killing of six women believed to be sex workers was a result the failure by government to decriminalise sex work. “We have been calling for the decriminalisation of sex work for the last 20 years. Black women are being targeted not only by society but also by the police.
“We are going to use this case to make the biggest noise ever about the plight of sex workers. This is a massacre in terms of the sex work industry. It is a big blow… Women are being murdered for their survival,” Rasebitse said.