At first 18-year-old Nonsi, short for Nonsikelelo, a Durban sex worker, chuckles before she switches to a sombre mood as she narrates her close encounter with death.
Nonsi spoke to Sunday World in the wake of the shock discovery of the bodies of six sex workers in the Johannesburg CBD last Sunday.
Sitting at a public park adjacent to Harvey Road in the suburb of Morningside in Durban, considered one of many unauthorised red light districts that have been mushrooming in the city, she refuses to give her real name, but instead tells Sunday World she prefers to be called Nonsi.
It’s the name her clients, friends and other ladies in the sex trade call her by. Many ladies of the night prefer using street names rather than their real monikers.
“It was the second time he [the client] had asked for my services, but this time he insisted he was not comfortable doing it at the house where we conduct our business.
“He said he was going to pay me extra for a whole night session at his flat in Amanzimtoti. So, we agreed on a R2 000 asking price. I told him to leave half of the money behind, with which he complied.”
Little did Nonsi know her ordeal was about to unfold, and tragedy would strike on that fateful night as her client, popularly known as Lelo among sex workers, had other plans.
“We went past a certain drinking spot in a township called Folweni. He asked me if we could stay for a while. He insisted I should drink vodka, although I had told him I prefer cider,” she said.
“I wasn’t comfortable the whole time, but I didn’t want to anger him by nagging him for us to go,” she explained, with her eyes staring into the void, seemingly engulfed by the tragic events that nearly led to her death two years ago.
Folweni is near the suburb of Amanzimtoti and townships such as Ilovu and Adams. It is notorious for its drug turf wars and organised gangs.
She said instead of going to the flat as per the agreement, Lelo and two accomplices forced her at gunpoint to a nearby cemetery. Her client, Lelo, had been joined at the drinking joint by two other men, who identified themselves as his flat mates.
“While in the vehicle on our way to the flat, one of the occupants pointed a firearm at me. They stopped and dragged me into the gravesite, threatening to kill me if I tried to be clever or scream,” she said.
Nonsi related how she endured repeated hours of rape by the three men before being shot in the stomach and left for dead.
She passed out.
“I woke up in hospital after being in a coma for a week.”
Nonsi’s life was saved by private security company guards after they heard gunshots.
The alleged perpetrators were not found, but an abandoned vehicle was discovered, and it later emerged it had been reported stolen.
Nonsi joined the sex industry at the age of 16 after her parents passed away, leaving her to fend for herself.
The discovery of six bodies of women murdered in a Johannesburg inner city building, alleged to have been sex workers, has lifted the lid on what appears to the systematic killing of sex workers.
Another sex worker, a 17-year-old going by the street name of Mandisa, said other forms of brutality meted out are part of a new trend where rich men scour for young girls to be mutilated for ritual cleansing. “One lady told us a story of how a rich guy took her to his place, while there he turned off the lights, begged her not be afraid or scream. He told her to lie naked on the bed and open her legs.”
She said according to the victim, she heard the “client” speaking in “tongues”.
“She told us the client came back and instructed her to dress and leave because the ‘man of the house’ was not happy with her.
“She decided to quit sex work after the encounter.”
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the atrocities and the mysterious disappearances of sex workers are in many instances not reported to police.
But Liza Monroney of the NGO Expose Hope said cases are not reported because of the hostility and mistrust between sex workers and the police.
“Those who are brave enough to come forward are often told to approach organisations representing and fighting for the rights of sex workers.
“The justice system doesn’t work for sex workers.”
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