Prostitution and Fast Cash: The Bitter-Sweet Menace of Truckers

Young girls frequent truck stops in Hwange for some 'piece jobs' including sex work.

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | AUG 2, 2022

Illegal truck stops bring brisk business in an otherwise economically starved town of Hwange, but this benefit comes with the unwanted dangers of child prostitution.

HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — An ‘illegal’ truck stop has brought life to Change village in Hwange.

Known for little economic activity, the area is now bustling with all kinds of ‘hustling' activities, but child prostitution has increased.

Belinda (16) is one of the teenage girls who frequent the truck stop for sex work.

Belinda says the one hour journey from her Dete home to the area for sex work every weekend ensures that she makes enough to meet her needs in the face of high joblessness.

“The haulage trucks have brought life to this community,” Belinda says.

“We sell food and do some piece jobs for them. Of course some of the piece jobs include sexual favours, and they pay handsomely.”

This is not the only illegal truck stop.

The mushrooming of coal mining ventures such as Dinson Colliery Coking Plant (DCCP), Zimbabwe Zhing Zhong Coking Company (ZZZCC) among others in Hwange has seen pockets of illegal truck stops being set up.

While informal traders are enjoying business from the truckers, there is a concern among community members over the resultant increase in child prostitution.

A haulage truck driver who preferred to be called Moyo says the “new truck stop” is convenient for the truckers, but denies claims of fuelling child prostitution.

“Of course, community members associate truckers with illicit behaviors, they label us. We prefer it here because it is central. It is near the mines, there is food from the shops and also lots of entertainment,” says Moyo

Truckers sometimes spend days at the truck stops waiting to carry coal from the mines to various destinations such as Zambia and Botswana.

Child rights’ experts feel the truck stops are fuelling child prostitution in the district.

“We are seeing even Form 1 and 2s sleeping in these trucks for sex work. The truck stops are slowly becoming a social misfit in our community.”
Theresa Mnkuli, a child rights’ activist

“My worry is that this behavior will soon corrupt most young girls in our community as it is already evidenced by a high number of teenage pregnancies,” says Mnkuli, a child rights’ activist under the umbrella Women of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) Young Women Forum.

Community members call for an immediate end to truck stops. 

Child prostitution is illegal.

Statistics from the Women Coalition of Zimbabwe show that the country recorded an estimated 5000 teenage pregnancies between January 2021 and February 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

There were also 1 800 entered early marriages during the same period.  

According to Plan International, currently 31% of girls under the age of 18 are married and of these, 4% were married before 15 years.

Lorraine Mubayira, the Hwange WCOZ Young Women Forum chairperson, says community members including truckers must work together towards eliminating child prostitution.

“Let us not blame each other on the matters of child prostitution. What we need is to work together in driving the social ill out,” Mubariya says.

But Ward 20 Councilor Ishmael Kwidini feels the truck stops must be abolished with immediate effect.

“The company which will be providing coal for these haulage trucks should make sure that they create a suitable parking space for their trucks somewhere far from the homes and not at the shopping center,” Kwidini says.

“We are also urging the young teenagers to desist from associating with the truckers.”

*Edited by Lizwe Sebatha | Fact Checked & Proofread by Melody Mpande | Reviewed & Commissioned by Divine Dube.

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