NOT everyone received a warm welcome from the audience at the 21st International Aids Conference.
John Jeffery, deputy minister of justice and constitutional development, received a cold response at the conference held at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban.
Jeffery was booed by sex workers when he delivered his speech on Monday.
Various sex workers’ organisations discussed some of the challenges they face.
“The buying and selling of sex is not legal in this country,” said Jeffery.
This angered the workers, who stood up and booed him.
In protest, they took out red umbrellas and held them up in the air, telling Jeffrey they were doing a job and demanding that it be legalised.
The angry audience only calmed down after deputy minister of social development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said Jeffrey was trying to legalise their work.
She said: “We are in full support of your work but we will not win the battle if we do not listen to possible solutions.
“If we want to win this fight, we need to endure bumpy roads and pain.”
Jeffery went on to deliver his speech, emphasising that sex work was illegal.
He said: “Whether you agree or disagree with me, nothing will change. The fact is that sex work is illegal.
“Legalising it is a very complicated matter, since this country is very religious.
“As government, we are trying everything we can to come up with a win-win solution.”
One disgruntled sex worker said: “This is not freedom – it is violation of our rights. The minister must go to hell if that’s all he had for us. Enough is enough. All we want is to do our job freely, just like other professions.”
Another sex worker, Nomagugu Mlambo (34) from Durban, said: “I have to do this job to put bread on the table and send my little girl to school.”
