Prostitution in South Africa has been illegal since the 1957 Sexual Offences Act (SOA), and the purchase of sex was added as an offence in a 2007 amendment. However, it remains common.
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Section 20(1)(aA) of the SOA states that any person who has unlawful carnal intercourse or commits an act of indecency with any other person for reward, is guilty of an offence.
The Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 also contains provisions relating to prostitution as do municipal by-laws. The most recent legislative change was the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 2007, section 11 which in addition criminalises clients.
Decriminalisation has been under active discussion since 1994. Currently the South African Law Reform Commission has four proposals that were submitted for public discussion ranging from criminalisation to decriminalisation. [1]
Sex workers have been blamed for contributing to the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Because of fears of increased prostitution in connection with the 2010 Football World Cup, there were calls for prostitution to be legalised and regulated to help control AIDS and STDs and for the protection of the sex workers. [2] However this generated considerable opposition. [3] There was little evidence of increased prostitution, and no changes were made to the laws.
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