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The IFP has raised questions over the reported increase in child
prostitution in some parts of KwaZulu Natal, specifically in Hluhluwe and
Durban. IFP MP on the Portfolio Committee for Women, Children and People
with Disabilities, Ms Liezl van der Merwe, believes this should be seen -
and dealt with - as a crisis.

"Ask yourself: 'What if this were my child?'" said van der Merwe, "Because
that is how we should see these children. They are our children. They are
our responsibility. We need to act on what we know, and investigate what we
don't know."

Van der Merwe was referring to the vast information available on where this
is happening, how it is done and what it involves. "Police have pinpointed
Mahatma Gandhi Road in Durban, they know adverts are placed in the
classifieds, they know that pimps arrive in expensive cars to collect these
young girls from the side of the road. Surely with a bit of surveillance it
would become obvious who is engaged in illegal activities," said van der
Merwe.

The IFP questions why intervention is so slow. Van der Merwe insists, "If
police suspect a young girl on the street is underage, they should ask for
an ID. They shouldn't simply believe her when she says she is 18."

Regarding what we don't know, the IFP has urged police and NGOs to work
together to expose what is driving this sudden increase in child
prostitution in certain areas.

"We need to understand what is raising the demand so that we can fight this
at the root," said van der Merwe. "We know that poverty plays a role.
Tragically, impoverished and unemployed young South Africans are selling
their bodies, sometimes for as little as R20. They should be in school,
securing their future. Instead, they are on the streets, at the mercy of
pimps and sexual predators. Government has a responsibility to protect and
assist these young people. This is a crisis."

The IFP calls on the Department of Social Development to urgently increase
the number of social workers in Hluhluwe and Durban. Working in tandem to
solve this problem, the Department of Education must ensure these children
return to school, community members are urged to become whistleblowers, and
arrests must be made.