Patrick Chauke's charge earlier this year against a sex shop a block away from parliament has emboldened him so much that he's planning a nationwide assault on porn.
Chauke is chairperson of parliament's portfolio committee on home affairs, and in August he was behind the closing of an Adult World shop in Plein Street on the grounds that it had not been properly licensed.
He said his committee's latest onslaught against porn shops was due to the increase in child pornography, and according to him many of these shops are located in neighbourhoods where they are easily accessible to children.
"Some of these shops are not licensed properly," said Chauke.
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'I'll challenge it in court and have the best lawyers in the country defending my rights' He said his committee wanted to look at whether adult shops and the sex industry were of any benefit to South Africa.
"We've asked the Film and Publications Board (FPB) to give us a report on film regulations to see if we can tighten the screws (on porn)," said Chauke.
He said his committee would not allow South Africa to become a dumping ground for porn, citing Hustler magazine as having a special hardcore edition in this country, something which was not found in most of the countries where the magazine was published.
"Next year the portfolio committee will meet again and a debate will be started. The debate should be informed by what sort of country we want," said Chauke.
Meanwhile, Arthur Calamaras, the owner of SA's largest chain of adult shops, said Chauke's latest comments were "quite absurd". "It's fairly obvious that the people of South Africa enjoy their freedom and he's (Chauke) got a personal vendetta against adult shops."
Calamaras, who owns 52 Adult World shops in SA, said the constitution was written in such a way that it protected adult shops and their right to trade. "I'll challenge it in court and have the best lawyers in the country defending my rights."
Chauke said, for now, the committee would only be looking at pornographic material but did not exclude future attention on other forms of adult entertainment such as strip clubs.
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This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on November 23, 2004
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