'It was a bit bad': Why sex worker left home for alleged brothel

Plucked from the diamond-hustling dorpie of Springbok in the Northern Cape, Emma* moved to the bright lights of Cape Town, fully aware that the job she was heading for would involve sex for cash.

She had lost her job at the local Spar and was at a loose end, caught up in bitter arguments with her alcoholic mother. She used the street drugs tik and mandrax as the days rolled into one another in a town with few chances of finding another job.

"It was a bit bad," she said.