Mbonea
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- Jul 14, 2009
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England fans risk HIV vice threat in South Africa
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Read
By Sophy Ridge in South Africa, 13/12/2009
SHE'S tall, beautiful - and absolutely DEADLY.
Hooker Isabella sells her body for just £8 a time under the shadow of South Africa's glittering Cape Town stadium.
But England fans tempted to play away from home at the World Cup could pay the ultimate price.
Because Isabella - like HALF of the host nation's prostitutes - is HIV positive.
For desperately-poor Isabella, 21, and hundreds of girls like her, the World Cup is the answer to her prayers.
"All the girls are so excited," she says.
"Everybody is preparing herself because next year we will be working all the hours in the day."
Her hopes and dreams, though, could unleash a terrible nightmare for fans tempted to stray.
South Africa is bracing itself for an estimated 42,000 new HIV infections over the World Cup period, as half a million football fans join the ultimate party.
Around 50,000 of the fans will come from England, expecting to have the time of their lives.
And it is not just the threat of HIV that awaits them.
Today a News of the World investigation exposes the grimy underbelly of the host nation.
The crime figures are terrifying. Last year in South Africa there were an incredible 18,148 MURDERS; 316,625 ROBBERIES; 203,777 serious ASSAULTS and 14,915 CARJACKINGS.
Credit card fraud and other scams are also rife.
And the appalling poverty of the families we met drives them to seek profit from next year's games - in any way they can.
For prostitutes like Isabella, that means selling their bodies.
Sadness
The dirt-poor mum has sex with up to 20 men a day and believes the flood of fans will bring the promise of a better life.
She's already planning to up her £8 rate by FIVE times for the wealthier visitors.
But her cheery optimism masks a deeper sadness.
Wearing a tiny pair of pink shorts and heels that show off her long, lean legs, Isabella says in a whisper: "I went for a test last month and found out I am HIV positive.
"As humans we have dreams but I don't know what will happen to me now..."
Isabella tries to insist on having sex with condoms, but sometimes her clients won't take no for an answer.
Speaking quickly because of her nerves, she said: "Men will offer you ten times as much to have sex without a condom. "Sometimes they get violent and you can't say no. Once I got into a car with a man, and he started shouting, 'You bitch, open your legs'. Then he started punching my thighs and my stomach. I still have the scars."
Isabella has no choice but to keep on working.
She lives in the appalling slums of Khayelitsha, where 700,000 people live just miles away from the glitzy Cape Town stadium. The difference between the mansions of Cape Town and the labyrinth of home-made shacks around the corner is breathtaking.
Isabella lives with her son and two others, crammed into a tiny hut built of zinc and wood.
The people living here - all black - share a tap with 200 other families, and go to the toilet in buckets. Isabella is not interested in football - just desperate to earn more money. Her torment started when her boyfriend deserted her and her baby. She found it impossible to find work, so travelled to Cape Town to sell sex.
Painful
She remembers: "The first time was very painful for me. I couldn't stop crying, and whispering, 'Why me?'
I thought, there can't be a God in this world. But then you get used to it. I am a strong woman, I need to survive."
South Africa is shipping in millions of extra condoms for the World Cup in a bid to protect party- goers. Charities still fear the supply will run out with awful results. A staggering 5.7 million people live with HIV in South Africa - the worst rate in the world.
Last year more than 250,000 South Africans died of AIDS.
But the UK Government's Department for International Development is playing a key role in helping South Africa tackle the devastation of HIV.
In 2008 DFID provided £15 million support to a rapid response health fund that helped reach 91 per cent of the adult population with information on how to prevent HIV infection.
International Development Minister Mike Foster said: "South Africa has been deeply affected by HIV and AIDS but there are signs of progress. The level of new HIV infections has stabilised."
But while England fans are dreaming about reaching the final at the amazing Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, a vile secret lurks in the shadows.
Around 10,000 child prostitutes are working a stone's throw away from the awesome arena, which seats 95,000 fans and cost a staggering £120 million. In Rustenburg, which will be the England squad's base, cases of sex crimes, assault, robbery and kidnapping all increased last year.
Cape Town, where England will play Algeria, is a hot spot for theft. Last year there were 1,116 robberies, 1,857 thefts from cars and nine carjackings. In Port Elizabeth, where England play Slovenia, there were 68 murders.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is running an On The Ball Campaign to advise fans going to South Africa.
First Secretary for Sport Gary Benham said: "Their safety and welfare is our biggest concern."
The South African Government is setting up 54 fast-track courts and 41,000 police officers will be on duty to fight crime at the finals.
Yet despite the fears, there is a huge sense of hope as the World Cup comes to Africa - and not just for girls like Isabella.
The tournament will be a massive boost to the economy, creating an estimated 160,000 jobs.
Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said: "In years to come, people will talk about Before 2010 and After 2010.
"That's how important it can be for us."
Source: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/new...ans-risk-HIV-vice-threat-in-South-Africa.html
