ONGWEDIVA – Angola has allegedly become the cut-rate prostitution destination for Namibians flocking illegally into the neighbouring country with hopes of making money, often in US dollars, through the sex trade.
This exodus into Angola has been viewed as a survival strategy attributed to the high rate of unemployment in Namibia, with some of the young women following the US dollars into Angola after the sex trade at the Namibian border town of Oshikango dried up. This was confirmed by Namibian Police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi who said the authorities are aware of the situation, but could not say how many people are involved in the sex trade. “I myself am also aware of this prostitution since we have also realised that ladies especially in the SADC region choose not to work as sex workers in their own countries and move into neighbouring countries. In this case our Namibian ladies have chosen to work as sex workers in Angola. I guess the currency used in Angola is an added incentive for them to be there,” said Kanguatjivi.
It is further alleged that the Namibian women enter the country in large numbers through the Angolan border town of Santa Clara and often go as far as the towns of Ondjiva, Lubango and eventually end up in Luanda.
“They are sneaking into Angola by trucks that transport goods, but also there are very well known men who have decided to use this as an opportunity to make money by sneaking these ladies into Angola to meet men for a price,” revealed a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, many have also found themselves stranded in Angola as they do not possess travel documents, such as passports.
“Many of the girls are really suffering there, when they die, most of them come here with diseases (HIV) or catch it here and it’s not easy for them to seek medication at Angolan health facilities so they die, nobody claims their corpses they are instead buried by the state as paupers. Family members in Namibia cannot afford to transport the bodies of their loved ones for burial here at home and sometime it is not even known to the families or Namibian authorities that some of these women are in Angola. The Namibian consulate has no record of many of the girls entering Angola. “A friend of mine even died last month after she fainted, but she was lucky that her family managed to retrieve her corpse and gave her a proper burial at her home town of Walvis Bay,” said a local businessman who has businesses in Angola.
He declined to be identified. The presence of Namibian prostitutes is said to have heightened competition with their Angolan counterparts who according to a source who spoke to New Era on condition of anonymity feel that all the men are ready to grab Namibian prostitutes who allegedly offer their services at a cheaper rate. Angolan men are also said to be fed up with the Namibians who allegedly are also notorious for their thieving habits.
“The Angolan men are angry because when they go with the Namibian prostitutes they are usually robbed of their wallets. Just two weeks ago two ladies were beaten up after they stole clothes from a house where they had spent the night with two men. Many of these ladies have been in Angola for more than ten years because they find it hard to leave that country due to the lack of documents. Many of them have resorted to using substances such as drugs, especially in Luanda where drugs are cheap and easily accessible. If these men (Angolan) see a Namibian lady they immediately conclude that she is a prostitute,” the businessman further said.
By Kakunawe Shinana