Opinion piece by Errol Naidoo
In 2022, then Deputy Minister of Justice, John Jeffrey published the “Sexual Offences Amendment Bill” for public comment to fulfil the ANC regime’s agenda to decriminalise the entire sex-industry in South Africa – despite overwhelming public opposition.
However, state law advisors warned the Bill would not pass constitutional muster because it sought to repeal the laws that criminalise the sale and purchase of sex without any regulations. In other words, state sanctioned sexual slavery minus regulation is bad policy.
The ANC intended to use its pre-2024 majority to ram the Bill through Parliament. This, despite a comprehensive SA Law Reform Commission (SALRC) investigation into Prostitution Law Reform that concluded decriminalised prostitution is the worst possible policy because of the high rates of poverty, unemployment, and abuse of women.
Thankfully, the Bill stalled in Parliament and the ANC lost its majority in the 2024 General Elections. However, the foreign funded “Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Taskforce” (SWEAT) filed a High Court application to repeal the laws that criminalise prostitution to achieve what the ANC failed to do through the normal democratic legislative process.
This case will be heard in the Western Cape High Court soon. The ANC led government refused to defend SA’s laws. Thankfully, several NGO’s will oppose SWEAT’s application. Please pray for the legal teams of these courageous civil society organisations.
Funded by foreign leftist groups, SWEAT is attempting to bypass the democratic legislative process to get the sex trade fully decriminalised via judicial decree. This circumvents the public participation process thereby silencing the majority of citizens opposing this policy.
Following consultations with the Dept of Justice, SWEAT released a statement on 9 April 2026 “welcoming governments readiness to move ahead with sex work decriminalisation.” Deputy Minister of Justice, Andries Nel confirmed, “decriminalisation remains established government policy.” But this is ANC policy – not the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The DA and the 8 other parties that make up the GNU have not revealed if they support the full decriminalisation of the sex industry in SA. If SWEAT’s High Court action succeeds, pimps, brothels owners and crime syndicates that control the sex trade will become legitimate businesspeople. Research shows prostitution explodes when it is legalized.
The SALRC consulted widely during its investigation into Prostitution Law Reform. Family Policy Institute (FPI) made a comprehensive submission that was referenced more than 50 times in the Final Report. The Report warned against decriminalisation & agreed with FPI’s assertion that sex buyers must be prosecuted, and the women provided exit programs.
There are mountains of international evidence indicating that legalized or decriminalised prostitution does not help the women trapped in sexual slavery. It is always a gift to pimps, brothel owners and crime syndicates that mercilessly exploit and abuse vulnerable women.
A decriminalised sex-industry does not break the well-established links between organised crime and prostitution. In fact, research shows in nations that have legalized, an illegal sex-industry operates alongside the legal trade. Legalisation does not solve the problem.
Tragically, research also indicates, child prostitution significantly increases wherever adult prostitution is legalized. ANC governance is characterized by rampant corruption and gross mismanagement. Its oversight of a legal sex industry will be disastrous for SA society.
If decriminalised in South Africa, thousands of vulnerable women and children will be sucked into the abusive and exploitative sex slave trade. Like the SALRC Report warned, poverty and unemployment will push many into state sanctioned sexual slavery.
A legalized sex industry removes police monitoring of illegal activities usually associated with prostitution. Sex trafficking skyrockets in a legalized system because of the lack of policing. SA is a known transit destination for traffickers because of poor governance.
Tragically, the Christian Church has been largely silent on this socially destructive issue. Organized crime controls the police and many organs of state. The ANC has abandoned vulnerable women and children and will no doubt profit off their merciless exploitation.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31: 8,9. I urge all believers to heed God’s Word and speak up against this perversion of justice.
Click here to KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE weekly newsletter.
> Please support Christian media and journalism in South Africa. Help us to spread the Word of God and take a stand for the truth by making a donation to our ministry. We appreciate your support. Click here to take hands with JOY! Magazine.
Date published: 14/04/2026
Feature images sourced from Freepik
DISCLAIMER
JOY! News is a Christian news portal that shares pre-published articles by writers around the world. Each article is sourced and linked to the origin, and each article is credited with the author’s name. Although we do publish many articles that have been written in-house by JOY! journalists, we do not exclusively create our own content. Any views or opinions presented on this website are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company.
