As large scale illegal diamond dealing intensifiesManica is situated about 60km from the Zimbabwe eastern entry point The Forbes Border Post. The town has become a hive of activity following the discovery of diamonds at Chiadzwa and the escalating illegal dealings related to the precious gem.
The town is now home to wealthy hardcore dealers who include an assortment of buyers from DRC, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Angola, Dubai, Singapore and Arab countries among others.
The majority of prostitutes that you find here are Zimbabwean prostitutes. Most of us are brought here by hunger and social injustices back home, said Mavis Mukuzva, a middle aged Zimbabwean sex worker.
The sex-workers now see Manica as a cash cow. They are usually spotted at the nicely renovated bars, night spots and hotels.
Most of the sex workers get into Manica posing as potential shoppers.
Juliet Sakarombe said she had been introduced to a brothel by a friend.
An older woman promised us we could make about US$100 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. She convinced us that she had good connections who patronised her brothel. We thought the money was good so we decided to give it a try.”
The sex workers charge rates between US$20 and US$100 for their services.
Maria Sambe (16), one of the many teenagers in Manica who have been lured to prostitution, said she had dropped out of school because she had been attracted to money.
She found herself in the business, when her mother, a fish vendor in a remote village in the Provincia De Manica (Manica Province), sent her to the town to try her luck on finding employment.
But unfortunately employment was scarce but she became attracted to the lavish spending of the diamond dealers.
It was not my wish, but it all ended this way. I am now a prostitute. I need the money to look after my mother back in the rural areas, she said.
I know that we are having strong competition from the Zimbabwean prostitutes, but we are not against them. We are all in business. We are all looking for money, she told The Zimbabwean on Sunday.
Maria said she had just turned 16 last year when she took her first Nigerian client.
“It was a difficult experience. Sometimes I cry after the night is over and having slept sometimes with as many as five guys or more,” she said.
She charges much lower fees for her services than her Zimbabwean counterparts. Her services cost between US$5 and US$10. Although the bulk of her clients are diamond dealers, members of the police and army are also her potential customers.
“Some of the girls use drugs so they can have more men. I tried it once but it did not work for me,” she said. “I have decided to accumulate my financial gains to invest later in my country,” said Juliet from Zimbabwe.
Jose Oderiko a senior resident of Manica said since 2008 when the illegal diamond dealing intensified, a significant number of the Zimbabwean sex workers had descended on the town.
Now that the Chiadzwa diamond field has been sealed with armed soldiers, more and more sex workers from Zimbabwe have also migrated to find more substantial incomes here.
“Today, there are now more bars being opened and these are accommodating the Zimbabwean prostitutes,” said Oderiko.
As for issues linked to the AIDS endemic in Africa, the sex workers said although in most cases, the teenagers insisted on condom use, they were not consistent.
The situation is different and more complicated,” said Mavis also from Zimbabwe. There are some clients who can offer you as much as US$150 to have unprotected sex with you. We are sometimes tempted and we simply give in.
“They pay you very well if you please and satisfy them sexually. Others have bought cars with the proceeds. But there have always been a danger in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, said Juliet.
Some of the sex workers were allegedly extorting money from clients.
“We befriend people and then later denounce them for sexual harassment or abuse before asking for money in exchange for the officers silence.”
Post published in: News