So, a day later, what do we know?
According to Joy (who claims to have posted based on Veronica's electronic records):
"Veronica wanted to help and protect a client who was being blackmailed by Sharon"
"Veronica only asked for certain info on the girls forum to protect her client legally."
"Shakira in boxed Veronica saying that Sharon and her go to the same bar and that she might be able to ask around and maybe get the relevant info."
Of course, Joy should perhaps let us know what that "certain info" requested was...
What is clear, then, is that Shakira acted to protect a client of Veronica's.
What happened at the restaurant is disputed. We have the account of Sharon, who has been banned by ESA for actions against the interests (to put it mildly) of punters, and we have the account of Shakira, who we now know was acting to help protect a punter (or maybe more than one: I see that at least one reviewer overlaps with both ladies).
Shakira was subsequently banned. When I asked ESA privately, the only reasons given were:
"Shakira has been with us for many years and in those years there has been a lot conflict,racism and arguments. We have been more than fair towards her. Its not in our interest to banned any advertiser, but when it become to much it is just not worth it. "
Of course, since her return to ESA from a previous banning, the charge of racism is demonstrably false:
www.esa.co.za/forum/thread.php
which leads one to think that Antionette's other given reasons are equally suspect.
Some other posters have speculated on what ESA's reasons might be. One of the more popular lines of reasoning is that a public scene could result in attention being focused on ESA, getting the police involved and putting users of this site at risk.
This just doesn't hold water. Google "Escorts+South Africa" and ESA is the first non-advert search return. To think that the police are not aware of the site takes a tremendous stretch of credulity! Now say Sharon had gone to the police, she would open herself up to possible criminal charges herself, and that threat was always hollow, especially if Shakira's version of events is correct. And as for reputational risk, if one Googles "Sean + Sexpo", we see a person who has carried a far higher risk of turning a media/police spotlight on ESA, through associations with the tangled web of alleged criminal associations of Lolly and Glen (forgive me SeanSexpo if this is not you; I just thought the coincidence too great for it not to be...)
Shakira's restaurant "exploits" seem unlikely to carry much risk for those of us who use this site, if any.
The other popular trope is, "well, she must have done something wrong." Which would be fair if what that was were made clear, so that both advertisers and clients know what the boundaries are. As it stands, no light has been shed.
Because Shakira was acting altruistically in the interest of clients here, I still believe she should be given a "probation" rather than a banning.
When we have had advertisers steal from a client and lie about it on the open forum (like the 'leaving the industry, anal virgin auction' Stacey
www.esa.co.za/forum/thread.php ), and yet still be allowed to advertise here, I don't think my request is at all unreasonable.
Let's hope the video turns up as definitive proof...