05:12 Another day for Elize, on the streets of Pretoria. She says she is 16, but she sells herself to men as a 14 year-old child. She has been doing this every day for past four years.
06:26 Her sister, Yolanda, is 14. Both girls are drug addicts. They have unprotected sex with customers every day.
07:52 Yolanda and Elize say they were forced into prostitution by their father.
They do business on a busy street corner in downtown Pretoria surrounded by ordinary kids and families going about their daily lives.
Their clients come from all walks of life. Often, they are men looking for sex with a child.
08:07 Thandi is only twelve. She ran away from home because of constant beatings. She was put in an orphanage, but ran away again but it did not help.
09:40 There is very little South Africa's authorities are doing about these children. The law says children that solicit sex on the street can be held under a temporary detention order and later be sent to a place of safety. But overwhelmingly, the children return to the streets.
10:52 Thandi lives in a shantytown in Marabastad near Pretoria. She has little chance of ever making a fresh start. Not many care- or rehabilitation-facilities exist. Those that do, struggle for resources. So these children are largely left to fend for themselves.
In many cases their clients don't even wear condoms. They want bare sex with a child.
11:50 It's late at night in Johannesburg. The Child Protection Unit detects a client picking up a child prostitute. They give chase. The law is clear: having sex with a girl under 16 or a boy under 19 is statutory rape even if the girl or the boy give their consent or lie about their age. It is the clients' duty to determine how old the prostitute is.
12:56 Nomsa is 15 years old, but as is often the case, the men simply claim that she told them she was an adult.
There is not much the police can do and they simply give the men a warning. The Child Protection Unit is understaffed and under resourced and was until recently threatened with closure. At least in Nomsa's case, she is being taking care of by an organisation called The Teddybear Clinic, who try and find a place of safety for girls like her.
14:16 The problem is often that the girls do not stay. Nomsa herself ran away soon after she was taken to the home. She went back to the streets and back to her pimp.
15:19 In downtown Johannesburg lives Pumla, who ran away from her home in the Eastern Cape.
19:03 During the day, many of the parks in Johannesburg and Pretoria are nothing more than leafy spots where ordinary people relax and parents bring their children to play.
19:40 But when night falls, children - girls and boys - come to these places to find clients. One of the boys is Corrie, who grew up in an orphanage and who has been on the street for 12 years. He has been roaming Burgerspark in Pretoria for much of that time.
20:31 This old house in Burgerspark is a well-known haven for drug users and prostitutes.
For virtually all the children, drugs and prostitution go hand in hand.
21:53 Neither Yolanda nor Elize consider rehabilitation seriously.
24:27 At least Yolanda has a room where she can take her clients. It is slightly safer than the street.
24:46 Special Assignment accompanies the police during a raid on a Hillbrow Hotel. It is a joint that is frequently used by child prostitutes and drug addicts. Police have found an enormous amount of drugs, guns and ammunition. A great many illegal immigrants are arrested. But the cops take no notice of the child prostitutes. Among them the young Letta from Cape Town, a 14 year-old child we have come to know well during our investigation.
27:07 In the months that we have been investigating child prostitution, 12 year old Thandi has grown up fast. She's already much tougher and more streetwise. But despite the new hairstyle and hard edges, she is still a child.
06:26 Her sister, Yolanda, is 14. Both girls are drug addicts. They have unprotected sex with customers every day.
07:52 Yolanda and Elize say they were forced into prostitution by their father.
They do business on a busy street corner in downtown Pretoria surrounded by ordinary kids and families going about their daily lives.
Their clients come from all walks of life. Often, they are men looking for sex with a child.
08:07 Thandi is only twelve. She ran away from home because of constant beatings. She was put in an orphanage, but ran away again but it did not help.
09:40 There is very little South Africa's authorities are doing about these children. The law says children that solicit sex on the street can be held under a temporary detention order and later be sent to a place of safety. But overwhelmingly, the children return to the streets.
10:52 Thandi lives in a shantytown in Marabastad near Pretoria. She has little chance of ever making a fresh start. Not many care- or rehabilitation-facilities exist. Those that do, struggle for resources. So these children are largely left to fend for themselves.
In many cases their clients don't even wear condoms. They want bare sex with a child.
11:50 It's late at night in Johannesburg. The Child Protection Unit detects a client picking up a child prostitute. They give chase. The law is clear: having sex with a girl under 16 or a boy under 19 is statutory rape even if the girl or the boy give their consent or lie about their age. It is the clients' duty to determine how old the prostitute is.
12:56 Nomsa is 15 years old, but as is often the case, the men simply claim that she told them she was an adult.
There is not much the police can do and they simply give the men a warning. The Child Protection Unit is understaffed and under resourced and was until recently threatened with closure. At least in Nomsa's case, she is being taking care of by an organisation called The Teddybear Clinic, who try and find a place of safety for girls like her.
14:16 The problem is often that the girls do not stay. Nomsa herself ran away soon after she was taken to the home. She went back to the streets and back to her pimp.
15:19 In downtown Johannesburg lives Pumla, who ran away from her home in the Eastern Cape.
19:03 During the day, many of the parks in Johannesburg and Pretoria are nothing more than leafy spots where ordinary people relax and parents bring their children to play.
19:40 But when night falls, children - girls and boys - come to these places to find clients. One of the boys is Corrie, who grew up in an orphanage and who has been on the street for 12 years. He has been roaming Burgerspark in Pretoria for much of that time.
20:31 This old house in Burgerspark is a well-known haven for drug users and prostitutes.
For virtually all the children, drugs and prostitution go hand in hand.
21:53 Neither Yolanda nor Elize consider rehabilitation seriously.
24:27 At least Yolanda has a room where she can take her clients. It is slightly safer than the street.
24:46 Special Assignment accompanies the police during a raid on a Hillbrow Hotel. It is a joint that is frequently used by child prostitutes and drug addicts. Police have found an enormous amount of drugs, guns and ammunition. A great many illegal immigrants are arrested. But the cops take no notice of the child prostitutes. Among them the young Letta from Cape Town, a 14 year-old child we have come to know well during our investigation.
27:07 In the months that we have been investigating child prostitution, 12 year old Thandi has grown up fast. She's already much tougher and more streetwise. But despite the new hairstyle and hard edges, she is still a child.