Organisations representing sex workers have gathered outside the Johannesburg magistrate’s court where the man accused of killing six women will make his first appearance.

Members of Sisonke Sex Workers Forum stood at the entrance of the court on Tuesday morning with placards written “my work should not cost my life”, among others.

Katlego Rasebitse, the spokesperson for the organisation, said the killing of six women believed to be sex workers was a result the failure by government to decriminalise sex work.

“We have been calling for the decriminalisation of sex work for the last 20 years. Black women are being targeted not only by society but also by the police.

“We are going to use this case to make the biggest noise ever about the plight of sex workers. This is a massacre in terms of the sex work industry. It is a big blow… Women are being murdered for their survival,” Rasebitse said.

On Sunday, six bodies were discovered, one in a room inside the building in the Johannesburg inner city, another in an industrial skip bin while two others were found in separate wheelie bins. The last two bodies were found in two separate vans parked inside the building. 

Sex workers said the “charming” young man has been fetching their colleagues every Sunday for the past six weeks and each time, none of them returned.

He allegedly used different vehicles to collect sex workers from the streets and promised a higher pay if they go with him to a place he had booked.

According to sex workers, the first woman to disappear was reported missing at the Jeppe police station but police did very little to find her.

The young man is facing six counts of murder.

dlaminip@sowetan.co.za