By Boyd Webb
Prostitution and drinking in public could be legalised for the duration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, if National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has his way.
The police chief on Wednesday asked the National Assembly's safety and security committee to apply their minds to his dilemma of what to do with the thousands of "soccer hooligans" expected to imbibe in public spaces and those who would feel the urge to try out other more exotic pastimes both currently illegal in South Africa.
"You as a committee must be sitting and thinking of how we are going to get around this. If a visiting fan is out on the street having a bottle of beer, must I arrest him, because it is illegal?
"What are we going to do in 2010 with all the hooligans in the fan parks where people will be watching soccer on TV or out there in the streets, in city squares where people will be drinking liquor?
"Are you saying the police must go out and arrest them, or are we going to have a special dispensation for the whole country during that period?" he asked.
And, if they were to be arrested, where would he put the thousands of people?
A similar dilemma surrounded the question of prostitution, which an event like the World Cup was known to boost.
"The World Cup is coming. We know, as all of you know, it exists," Selebi said, asking again what the police were expected to do.
He said that it did not make sense to arrest all the prostitutes in Green Point, Cape Town, for instance, especially as the number would definitely be increasing as 2010 drew nearer.
He suggested that the government instead adopt innovative ways of "controlling" public drinking and prostitution.
During the German World Cup, certain taxis were designated to drive the clients of sex workers to areas where they could find a service.
While this suggestion brought giggles from most MPs, it resulted in a look of horror on the face of African Christian Democratic Party leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe, who felt the problem should be ignored.
But Selebi said South African should instead confront the problem.
"In Germany, they controlled it. They said this thing exists, whether we like it or don't like it."
Committee chair Maggie Sotyu agreed the problem needed to be debated and a solution placed on the table.
Helne Combrinck, acting director for the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force, welcomed Selebi's "pragmatic approach".
"While we would ideally like the sex trade to be decriminalised before then, we would support a temporary dispensation for the World Cup," Combrinck said.