Coronavirus Lockdown -South African sex workers ask government for financial aid
South Africa currently has more than 1000 coronavirus cases. The country also recorded the first two coronavirus related deaths this morning.
To flatten the curve of the coronavirus outbreak, the South African government has announced a three-week lockdown across the nation.
The lockdown will be enforced by the South African police and army, and only essential services and movement will be allowed.
In a speech to soldiers mobilised to enforce the lockdown, President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa said:
‘This is unprecedented, not only in our democracy but also in the history of our country, that we will have a lockdown for 21 days to go out and wage war against an invisible enemy, coronavirus.’
The lockdown began today but will allow for essential services and goods, such as healthcare workers, food vendors, power services, etc.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has also advised South Africans to stay indoors.
‘The law is that you stay at home. The exception is for survival: food and health, with security forces making sure that the law is enforced.’
However, the nation’s sex workers have spoken up about being considered for financial aid, because the business thrives on physical contact which is being curtailed by the lockdown.
In a television interview with eNCA (eNews Channel Africa), Lesego Tlhwale, Media Advocacy Officer for SWEAT (The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce) said:
‘As we all know, sex work is one of the oldest professions in the world, and with us being sex work activists, we consider this work, which is providing for families and for the workers.
So for us, at this point, sex workers are the hardest hit at this point because the nature of the work they do, it requires physical contact and with a national lockdown enforced, it means that there’s no contact that sex workers can do with the clients or ways of making money during this pandemic.
So we say to the government, while you look at assisting and aiding other workers, during this time, also think of sex workers who are also hardest hit, who also are losing income due to this pandemic.’
The South African government is proposing a special dispensation for companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak so that companies can avoid layoffs and still afford to pay salaries.
For sex workers, there is as yet no such consideration, as sex work is illegal.
