By Wendy Jasson Da Costa

Two political parties have expressed outrage at suggestions that a 'special dispensation' be created to legalise prostitution and public drinking during the 2010 soccer world cup.

The suggestion was made by national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi to the National Assembly's Safety and Security Committee which was asked to apply its mind to how police should deal with these issues in 2010.

The African Christian Democratic Party's (ACDP) Northern Cape leader Francois Van Wyk said Selebi's suggestion would reinforce negative public perceptions that he had 'no clear understanding' of what his commission entailed.

He said the fact that Selebi's ideas were not rejected suggested they were in line with that of the ANC-led government.

'On the same day South Africans are told law-enforcement will in future be victim-friendly, we are also told public drinking and promoting prostitution will be tolerated on our streets. Imagine the mixed signals that sends out regarding the fight against Aids and crime,' Van Wyk said.

Selebi had told MPs another dilemma he faced was what to do with the thousands of people who could possibly be arrested during the event.

He also said innovative ways should be found to control public drinking and prostitution and that during the world cup in Germany there were designated taxis to drive sex workers' clients to 'serviced' areas.

On Thursday, the Freedom Front Plus spokesperson on Safety and Security Pieter Groenewald said Selebi's comments about the temporary acceptance of prostitution and public drinking were just a 'smoke screen' to eventually legalising prostitution.

Selebi's sex idea shot down

Johannesburg - National police commissioner Jackie Selebi's suggestion to legalise prostitution and public drinking during the 2010 Soccer World Cup was 'appalling', Doctors for Life International (DFL) said on Saturday.

'DFL is therefore calling on government to take immediate action against the sexual exploitation of women and children for the 2010 World Cup,' said spokesperson Debbie Toughey.

Selebi made the suggestion to the National Assembly's Safety and Security Committee in Parliament this week.

Toughey said approximately 40 000 women and children were trafficked into Germany to accommodate the demand for sex during the tournament. She said the same could be expected to happen in South Africa as women and children would be used as merchandise to cash in on the event.

'Prostitution is an act of violence, which is intrinsically harmful and traumatising to people in prostitution.'

Selebi said the two problems were 'controlled' during the world cup in Germany in 2006.

The overall HIV prevalence among prostitutes in South Africa was reportedly as high as 56%, almost twice the level of the general population, added Toughey.

Red light areas in 2010 plan

Johannesburg - The host cities for the 2010 Soccer World Cup should have dedicated 'red-light' districts, deputy national police commissioner Andre Pruis said on Thursday.

Pruis repeated calls made earlier in the week by National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi who asked the National Assembly to give serious thought on what to do about prostitution and drinking in public.

Both are currently illegal in South Africa.

Pruis was giving a presentation on the security plan for the 2010 Soccer World Cup at the National Prosecuting Authority's stakeholder conference underway in Midrand.

'We are proposing: let's organise things that we know will happen,' Pruis said.

He said he was planning to divide the host cities into areas to ensure that all the places fans and officials visited were adequately staffed with police officers.

He said one such area could include a 'red-light' sector where people could be taken to and where 'madams and police' would rule.

In Germany prostitution is legalised.

'What did the Germans do? Outside they had beer trucks and food stalls. Pimps were allowed to give you a ticket with an address, then there was an accredited taxi taking you there and bringing you back,' Pruis said.

Prostitution was against the law, 'but drinking in public is also against the law and do you expect me to arrest all those people?' Pruis asked.

He said there was a need for a discussion to deal with issue and how to organise it during the tournament.

'Legal prostitution will help'

Msimelelo Njwabane

Johannesburg - A plan to legalise prostitution forms part of the recommendations of the new HIV/Aids plan to ensure that new HIV infections are reduced by 50% by 2011.

The new plan was launched this week. It has identified the criminalisation of sex workers as a hindrance to the curbing of the pandemic.

The plan revealed that 'a number of high risk groups, like sex workers, continue to face legal barriers in gaining access to HIV-prevention and treatment services because of the criminalisation of their activity'.

The plan recommends that the laws criminalising prostitution should be amended to 'ensure non-discrimination and harm-reduction in sex workers'.

Large sections being excluded

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (Sweat) researcher Nicol? Sick has welcomed the recommendations.

'It is incredibly hard to combat the scourge of HIV/Aids among sex workers under present laws.

'Decriminalising prostitution and legalising it will move it from the underground, where it leaves sex workers more vulnerable,' said Sick.

'As long as the sex work industry remains illegal and operates as a largely underground activity, large sections are not being accessed nor have access to non-judgmental health services.

'It is the criminalisation of sex work that is a threat to public health,' said Sick.

The plan has been hailed by health and social care stakeholders at the two-day national consultative forum in Boksburg on the East Rand.

The national treasury has already committed R14bn to kickstart the plan.

However, the plan does raise concerns about the affordability and sustainabilty of the programmes.

To bring down costs, the plan suggests that primary health-care nurses, not doctors, should be used to put patients on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

Inputs 'will be incorporated'

Lay counsellors, not nurses, should conduct HIV tests without compromising the quality of the services, it was suggested.

This has been proposed as a cost-effective and safe method of expanding the ARV programme.

The plan aims to provide ARVs to 80% of HIV-positive people who need treatment.

Sibani Mngadi, spokesperson for the department of health, said: 'These inputs will be incorporated into the final plan that will be adopted by the new South African National Aids Council.'