Johannesburg

Monday

Mostly sunny. Mild.

12°C
25°C

7 day forecasts

CCMA won't help sex worker

2007-01-24 22:23

Cape Town - The statutory commission for conciliation, mediation and arbitration (CCMA) has ruled it has no jurisdiction to deal with an unfair dismissal claim by a Cape Town sex worker.

Commissioner Bella Goldman said in a ruling given recently that the CCMA could deal only with a legally enforceable contract, and a contract dealing with a criminalised activity could not be enforceable.

She said that from the argument and examples presented by counsel for the sex worker, identified only as "Kylie", it would appear that the law on prostitution was not in line with the morality or prevailing views of society.

"However, it is not for an administrative body such as the CCMA to change the law," she said.

"Kylie" worked at Brigitte's, a licensed massage parlour in Voortrekker Road, Parow, until May last year.

Abused and exploited

Her advocate, Colin Kahanovitz, instructed by the Women's Legal Centre, had argued that sex workers fell into the definition of the "everyone" guaranteed fair labour practices by section 23 of the constitution.

He said sex workers as a group were abused and exploited, and by declining jurisdiction the CCMA, in effect, would be aiding and abetting this.

He also argued that the primary purpose of the CCMA was to resolve labour disputes, not combat crime, nor impose its own morality.

However, Goldman said: "Should sex workers be allowed into the jurisdiction of the CCMA, then the CCMA would be guilty of imposing its own morality in deciding that the Sexual Offences Act was out of sync with the values of modern society... That is the function of the legislature."

An 'important challenge'

Jayne Arnott, director of Sweat, an NGO championing the rights of sex workers, said she was disappointed with the ruling, on a matter which had offered an opportunity to access labour rights.

"But, I think it was important to challenge, and we will continue to do so," she said.

"Because we do have people who work, to all intents and purposes as employees, and they should be able to access labour rights in that regard."

- SAPA

inside news24

Weather
Traffic
Lottery
Cpt: 18-30°C Sunny. Warm. Pta: 15-28°C Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm.
Jhb: 12-25°C Mostly sunny. Mild. Bloem: 14-29°C Sunny. Pleasantly warm.
Dbn: 19-22°C Drizzle. Partly cloudy. Cool. PE: 15-24°C Sunny. Mild.
7 day forecasts...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Project Manager - Housing Development

Eastern Cape - Port Elizabeth
Pinpoint One Human Resources (Pty) Ltd
R280,000-400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company

SENIOR Siebel Configurator/ Developer – Bryanston – R300 per hour

Gauteng - Johannesburg
E-Merge IT Recruitment
R200-300 Per Hour

Java Developers

Western Cape - Cape Town
Hire Resolve

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

SUBARU

FORESTER 2.5 X
2003
R 114,990.00

OPEL

Corsa 1.7 DTi Utility Dsl MY04
2005
R 85,990.00

TOYOTA

Avanza 1.3 SX MPV
2008
R 107,990.00

Property - Find a new home

VAN RIEBEECKSHOF

Single Residential R2,050,000

DWARSKERSBOS

Single Residential R1,600,000

BRYANSTON

Multiple Unit R2,500,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!

Kalahari.net - shop online today

Great Festive Savings on Books

Up to 30% Off ALL Books. 2.3 million titles on SALE.

Sleek New iPod Range. Order Your's Now!

iPod nano 16GB - Black, Was R2,499.00 Now R2,299.00! Save R200!

Up to 40% off Fabulous Festive Flicks

46 000 DVDs and Blu-Ray on sale now! Pre-order Up and District 9!

Up to 20% off ALL Music

100s of festive new releases now in stock! Now, Bump 25, Bon Jovi & more!

1000s of Festive Toys on Sale

Lots of Toys, free gift wrap, lowest prices on Lego Mindstorm, Ben 10, Hannah Montana & more!

Hot Deal of the Day!

All DVDs on Sale

Up to 40% Off 46 000 Titles

District 9, UP, Ice Age, Transformers, Life & more!

Up to 40% Off Sale on All Books, Toys, CDs, DVDs & Games!