A brother reveals his heartbreaking decision to prostitute his sister to provide for their, and their families’, basic living needs.
GROWING up, her dream was to become one of the best doctors in the Eastern Cape.
Financial constraints, however, took her down a very different path and she ended up falling into the prostitution trap.
She assures us that if she or her brother could find another job, she would stop selling her body today.
We meet Pearl* (24) and her brother, Brian* (41), in their one-room shack in Zakhele informal settlement outside Rustenburg in the North West.
The siblings welcome us inside and offer us a wooden chair by the door to sit on. Brian and Pearl perch on a neatly covered single bed.
The temperature inside the room is sweltering, as the shack does not have any windows.
It contains the basics: a bed and a paraffin stove for cooking.
“I go out to prostitute at night, while my brother sleeps,” Pearl tells us. “In the morning, I come back with food and he wakes up to cook, then it’s my turn to sleep. We spend about R150 on paraffin each month.”
Brian tells us how they ended up in this desperate situation.
He came to Rustenburg from Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape to work at a mine eight years ago. With his job secure, his younger sister joined him to search for work as well.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 25 2016-Ausgabe von Drum English.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 25 2016-Ausgabe von Drum English.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Homegrown Heroes
Drum speaks to two volunteers in the Covid-19 vaccine trial and the professor heading the team in Africa
The Big Clean Up
Whenever a Covid-19 case is confirmed at a shop, they call in the deep-cleaners. We find out exactly how they disinfect stores and supermarkets
I'm Back & Better!
Babes Wodumo shares what she’s been up to in lockdown – and there’s some new music on the horizon
Not An Easy Ride
Taxi commuters and industry players tell DRUM what’s driving them to defy lockdown rules
Mam' Mary Bows Out
Iconic actress Mary Twala is fondly remembered by friends and family for her humour and talent
‘They Lived For Each Other'
This Cape Town teen’s parents died from Covid-19 on the same day. Now she’s alone and battling the virus too
Stranger Than Fiction
For actor Mangaliso Ngema and his daughter Khosi Ngema, her role in Blood & Water was like watching their family’s real-life story unfold
I Was Raped By A Pastor
His accusations against a well-known man of the cloth turned an Eastern Cape man’s life into turmoil but now more victims have spoken out
My Fight With Life And Death
More Covid-19 patients, too few beds and staff, constant sanitising and personal fears – a Western Cape doctor shares her experience
I AM ENOUGH
Ten years after being set alight, Thembi Maphanga is living life to the fullest