EWN reports that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has issued a moratorium on the prosecution of sex workers pending a court decision on the decriminalisation of sex work.

This coming week, the Western Cape High Court will hear legal arguments that could reshape the status of sex work in the country. The case lodged by the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) challenges the criminalisation of sex work as unconstitutional. According to SWEAT spokesperson Megan Lessing, the decriminalisation of sex work was already part of government policy. "It is part of the national strategic plan to address gender-based violence and it’s also part of government policy in terms addressing the HIV infection rate," she pointed out. Lessing said this was the reason why the Department of Justice was not opposing the case because they already have intentions to decriminalise sex work. Lessing also pointed out that the illicit sex industry could bring in a potential tax revenue of R8 billion if decriminalised and regulated.

• Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Carlo Petersen at EWN

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