History of Dockside Prostitution in South Africa

While preparing my forthcoming book, Sugar Girls & Seamen, I researched and wrote an article about the history of dockside prostitution in South Africa. This exercise gave me greater insights into the reality I was encountering at the seamen's clubs of today. Just published by the journal History Compass, it is titled "Dockside Prostitution in South African Ports."

Here's the abstract:
Prostitution has been a staple of dockside social life for centuries. In South Africa, it dates from the Dutch East India Company's establishment of a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. But unlike other prostitution sectors—streets, brothels, agencies—the women of the dockside sex trade in Cape Town and Durban participate in a global traffic of ideas, diseases, DNA, contraband, and currency through their ceaseless interactions with foreign sailors. They exploit their knowledge of the seamen's languages and cultures so as to more effectively solicit their marks in a competitive and cosmopolitan environment.

Social historians provide passing glimpses of dockside prostitution in their consideration of larger historical themes—Company rule, slavery, British colonial governance, the Mineral Revolution, the Anglo-Boer War, and apartheid—but they have yet to treat it as a distinct analytical category through which to view the past. Yet popular intellectual trends suggest that research into the dockside sex trade would add new dimensions to the histories of cosmopolitanism, gender, globalization, maritime recreation, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

This article provides a quick and accessible introduction to the historiography of dockside prostitution in South Africa.

Note: This article is available for subscribers to History Compass. If you are a student, you will be able to download the article through a university computer if your institution has an account with History Compass.

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Click on the PDF icon to go to the History Compass article page:

Trotter, Henry. "Dockside Prostitution in South African Ports," History Compass Vol.6, No.3 (2008): 673-690.

The Strip-Tease Strategy

The other night at a dockside nightclub in Cape Town, a prostitute jumps on a table and performs a provocative strip tease for the club's enjoyment. Showing no inhibitions, she shimmies a denim mini down her legs, pulls her halter-top over her head, and unclasps her bra. With only leopard print heels and a flesh-toned g-string as adornment, she prances from table to table, pantomiming a stripper's routine.

All of the ladies around the club laugh. The men stare.

Such naked extravaganzas are rare at the dockside clubs. Though all of the club ladies are prostitutes, few are exhibitionists. In fact, most are quite conservative—wearing blue jeans, t-shirts, and takkies. Almost none wear the stereotypically sexy couture we associate with pros. And of the women at the club, only the strip-teaser arrives in a mini.

This lady—a veteran part-time prostitute who comes to the clubs for kicks and some extra bucks—clearly enjoys her performance. After showing off on the tables, she moves around the club, draping her naked bod over the backs of the sofas and chairs, daring the seamen to look and slip a R100 in the g. When I ask the other ladies who she is and why's she doing this, they just shrug: "oh, she's an old-timer who pops in sometimes. She does this every time she comes out."

But the stripper not only dances for personal satisfaction. She uses her strip-tease as a unique and potent solicitation strategy. By exhibiting her curvy sexuality to all of the men at once, she excites their interest, hints at future pleasures, and ignites a sense of urgency amongst them. Since they've all seen her at the same time, they must act fast if they are to beat their rivals to her. She places the burden of the chase on them.

When she finally (reluctantly) puts her clothes back on, she has her pick of guys. She chooses a young Indonesian crewman who looks very pleased with his luck. He can't stop smiling as they sway together on the dance floor.

She, meanwhile, is already dreaming of the next table-top routine she'll perform when she comes to the clubs again.

Male bonding with prostitutes

At the Cape Town and Durban dockside nightclubs, prostitutes not only entertain sailors with flirtatious companionship (and sex afterwards), they also enable a fundamental social need of shipmates: male bonding.

Recently: Chinese crewmen celebrate their last night ashore. They've been in Cape Town a couple of weeks now, partying at the clubs every night. But tonight, they gear up for another voyage to the deep. Tomorrow, they'll sail to the South Atlantic fishing grounds for another 4 months of trawling.

The 16 of them are festive and friendly. Dozens of beer cans litter their table with more arriving all the time. The ladies fetch 6-packs for them, pocketing the change in the process. The girls don't interfere with the bonding, but spice it up a bit, boosting the guys' sense of pride, confidence, virility, and masculinity. The women play an important supporting role in this ritual.

Every few minutes, after some conversation and a speech, the Chinese stand up to toast each other. Then they sing karaoke, dance, and caress the ladies who've latched onto them. On other nights, these activities might be followed by a sexual rendezvous.

But tonight, they're more interested in raising their fellow-feeling before their journey. They've had 2 weeks to release whatever frustrations they had from the previous trip. Soon they'll be stuck together again in the dangerous, monotonous, stressful, and confining "total institution" of the sea-borne ship. So tonight, they need to reaffirm their commitment to each other as brethren of the sea. They'll sail better together for it.

Club pros have learned how to deal with male bonding imperatives. They don't interfere so much as accommodate their solicitous behavior to this unique context. Tonight with the Chinese, they do what they can to inspire male bonding, all the while encouraging them to part with their last rands before they leave.

This is one of the key differences between dockside prostitution and other sex sectors. There is no similar need for male bonding in the streetwalker, brothel, truck-stop, courtesan, or agency trades. The johns of those environments usually run solo.

Every nationality has its own style of male bonding at the clubs. Each incorporates the ladies in different ways. And the women quickly learn what behavior works with each ethnicity. They gauge their success in a number of ways: by how well they entertain the guys; how well they bring the guys closer together; and, of course, by how much money they can hustle out of the guys before they leave.

Dockside Solicitation Strategies

One of the key aspects of my upcoming book, Sugar Girls & Seamen, concerns solicitation strategies employed by dockside prostitutes. This blog entry offers a brief look at what's involved.

Dockside prostitution is a specialized niche in the sex trade. This is because the clientele—transient foreign seamen—face different constraints than the clients of other sectors (streets, brothels, truck-stops, and agencies). Prostitutes must cater to these salty waifs in unique ways, taking into account their transience, foreignness (legally & culturally), and social needs (for male-bonding & female companionship). This blog entry highlights some of the solicitation strategies used by Cape Town & Durban sugar girls.

First, imagine the scene: a South African dockside nightclub. On any given night you'll find dozens of foreign sailors sitting around enjoying themselves with beers and whiskeys. They sit in booths, at tables, or at the bar. Every club has a dance floor, a pool-table room, and a couple of them have karaoke rooms. They meander between them throughout the evening.

From 8pm, prostitutes start to stream in. In Cape Town, they tend to be 'mixed-race' coloureds and in Durban they're mostly provincial Zulus. When they arrive, they greet their friends, ignore their rivals, and order up their first drink from their favorite spot. They chill for a few minutes, usually in pairs or small groups, and survey the scene.

As they talk, they establish what kind of action is available for the night: Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Croatians, Germans, Senegalese, Samoans, etc. Then they chat about what ships are supposed to be in the harbor and whether this will impact their evening's activities. Perhaps a returning client is on one of the ships. That would definitely raise hopes.

After awhile, some of the girls head to the dance floor to show off their curves and availability. They make sure they're visible to any promising clients. Other women head straight for a table to join a group of men, asking for a light to initiate the connection. Then they're able check them out up-close and personal. Others sit alone at the bar, looking mysterious, above the fray. If a sailor likes a challenge, he'll be enticed by the seeming disinterest such aloof women display.

This is only the first move, part of a marketing campaign to get the attention of the seamen. Once contact is established, a woman will usually settle in at a booth with a sailor and his mates. They'll greet and incorporate her into the group, offering her drinks and cigarettes. She'll oblige.

For the next 3 or 4 hours, the woman will work hard to keep her man's attention. AND she will continue checking out other options while gauging whether this guy is worth the time. Throughout the evening, she'll make provisional claims on a number of men—with one guy typically being the primary—while the men also make make claims on multiple women. A promiscuous flirtation saturates the flitty relationships at the clubs.

Conversation, dancing, drinking, smoking, and touching fill the hours. But throughout, a woman guides the sailor toward a negotiation for a sexual contract after the club. For even if the seaman treats her to drinks and cigarettes, maybe even proffering 'taxi fare' or some cash for the good times, the real money is made through a sexual rendezvous. She might score some 'taxi fare' (R30/$5) or a hundred rands ($16) for the companionship but if they can the chance to provide sexual services, they can demand R200-300 ($30-50) for poorer crewmen and R500-1000 ($80-160) for wealthier officers.

Most sailors resist the offer, stumbling back to the bosom of their ships instead. Many go to the clubs for male-bonding with their mates or for some casual comfort and companionship from a lady. Drinking is crucial too. And if they're not very well-paid crewmen, then they may be even more reluctant. But most sailors do, at some point, take advantage of the sexual services provided by the port sugar girls.

Thus, even though many women go to the clubs 6-7 nights per week, they may average about 2 or 3 post-club hook-ups. The rate is higher for Durban because the women deal with overnight container-ship sailors while Cape Town women deal mainly with long-stay fishing trawler seamen. In other words, Durban provides more sailors for shorter durations, allowing for more potential clients. In Cape Town, the fewer sailors tend to stay longer. But, even though Durban women get more clients, they also charge less, making monthly earnings between the C.T. and Durban women about the same.

In conclusion, solicitation takes hours, requiring a range of social skills. Conversational abilities are important, foreign language skills can be a big plus, willingness to touch and caress on the spot is crucial, attractiveness is a bonus (but not necessary), and savvy clientele choices are de rigeur.

Unlike other sex sectors, it's not enough to just show up and be 'available.' The women have to actively solicit in a competitive atmosphere. The difference between success and failure is hundreds of rands on any given night. Hence, in-club skills makes up the most important aspect of sugar girls' work (more than actual sexual skills). Though it is not formally paid for, solicitation not only makes the sailors feel great at the clubs, but it steers their attention toward the girls for post-club extravaganzas.

These interpersonal club activities have a big impact on the women's social lives, cultural investments, and sense of identity as prostitutes. Obviously their work incorporates so much more than just sex. Their solicitation techniques are socially complex and culturally sophisticated.

The next blog entry will compare solicitation at the dockside to that of other prostitution sectors.

The Nocturnal Dockside Scene

In downtown Cape Town & Durban there exist nightclubs devoted solely to the pleasure of seamen.

They cater to seafarers by ensuring their safety, by enticing "working girls" to solicit from the club (to "entertain" the seamen, as the owners like to say), and by barring local men who might try to interfere with the sailors' good times. From the outside, these clubs look like seedy dives. (It's the same inside.) But the nautical paraphernalia strewn about the entrance lets you know that this joint is for mariners. Somehow, the "straight" crowds that dominate Long Street in Cape Town and Florida Road in Durban know that these clubs are not for them. They stay away from this shadowland.

The club scene for seafarers dates to the 1970s when the containerization of cargo and the apartheid government's Group Areas Act destroyed the dockside communities that had serviced the passing seamen for generations. At The Point in Durban and the District One docklands (Waterkant area) and District Six in Cape Town, numerous "suikerhuisies" (Afrikaans sugar houses, ie. brothels) offered carnal delights to the transient waifs.

Once the brothels passed out, Greek entrepreneurs established clubs in the downtown areas. They struck a bargain with the local sex workers: as long as they encouraged the men to buy alcohol at the clubs for a few hours, they were free to solicit them for post-club sexual contracts.

It's a pretty fair deal. And it's been relatively stable for 30-odd years. The club owner provides a festive atmosphere for the sailors by having sexually available women around; this encourages them to party and buy drinks at the clubs. The owner is therefore able to secure his livelihood from these alcohol sales. The presence of women are central to that process. As one club manager said, "A club without chicks is dead."

So the owners have to do right by the ladies. The main thing they do is give them the right to solicit in relative safety and anonymity. Many women find this an attractive alternative to the exposure of streetwalking and the boredom of brothel work. They are also able to elude legal prosecution because solicitation techniques are indistinguishable from activities at "straight" clubs (dancing, touching, drinking, talking, singing). Thus, very few women have had any problems with the police in the last few years. (During apartheid it was another matter; but more on that later.)

But let there be no doubt: all of the women's efforts at the clubs are part of a highly competitive and complex solicitation strategy. They do not come to the clubs to "party," though it is a handy explanation if the cops confront them. They come to work. What looks like fun-n-games to outsiders is really just an attempt to make a living. No more, no less.

There are three major points you need to understand about dockside prostitution:

1. solicitation techniques are socially complex
   
2. sugar girls' success rests on skills that are quite different from those needed in other sex sectors
   
3. the needs and constraints of of foreign, transient seamen determines the logic and structure of this prostitution niche