Cape Town - Sex workers in the metro have accused the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) of abandoning its mandate to protect human rights and act impartially and transparently.
Members affiliated with Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work, Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (Sweat), and Sisonke national sex workers movement marched to the CGE on Thursday demanding answers to numerous submissions previously made to the commission.
The groups, which accused the commission of selling out sex workers, said they were still waiting for responses from the commission, including a letter that they sent quizzing it on its alleged revised position on the decriminalisation of sex work.
On July 8 the coalition – an umbrella of 130 groups – wrote to the commission seeking answers regarding a Section 6 committee allegedly established to review its standing position on the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa.
However, a month after the letter, the coalition’s national co-ordinator Constance Mathe said the commission only responded on Tuesday, acknowledging their email and requesting to meet with the organisations.
The coalition is demanding access to the minutes of the meeting they said was held in 2019 where the resolution was passed to establish the committee.
They also demanded that the commission confirms the names of the committee members, the rationale behind their selection, and the process that was followed in their appointment.
The coalition is also seeking clarification regarding the official position of the commission regarding decriminalisation of sex work and the cancellation of consultation with sex workers.
Sweat spokesperson Megan Lessing said they were worried that the commission was not only revising its position but also the processes behind the revision.
“When the CGE came out in support of decriminalisation of sex work in 2013, they did so based on their research and lived experiences of sex workers. What we want to know now is why, when revisiting that, they are not putting the same process in place.
“It is important, not only for sex workers but for other marginalised and vulnerable groups in South Africa, to know that a chapter nine institution mandated to protect our rights is completely independent. However, it has come to our attention that might not be the case,” she said.
Mathe said while they were looking forward to the planned meeting with the commission, they still wanted written responses to the request for information as she said consultations with sex workers were cancelled in July without an explanation.
CGE provincial manager Sixolile Ngcobo said the memorandum would be handed over to the national office, which would respond after it had been studied.