Involvement with saintly Sister Elisabeth Schiller and her St Joseph’s Care project in Sizanani exposed me to the underbelly of South African poverty. In the rural areas surrounding the community clinic and HIV-support initiative, there are huge informal settlements with names like Dark City where the career option for young women is prostitution or finding a “Blesser” – a Sugar Daddy. The extent of this scourge is reflected in numerous way – including HIV statistics where a huge discrepancy exists between infection of young females and the male contemporaries whom they reject for older escorts. It’s a hot topic in South Africa, so publication on Facebook by a 19 year old of selfies with a “blesser” who looks a lot like President Jacob Zuma, has caused an outrage. Is Zuma the dirty old man his enemies claim? Or is the young lass actually one of Zuma’s many daughters as defenders insist? Or was the whole thing expertly photoshopped? There has been no outright rejection from the Presidency which says, rather, it will investigate the origin of the pics. Have a look and make up your own mind. If Zuma, with four wives already, is indeed a “blesser”, given the popular disgust against the practice, it could be the straw that breaks him. Political leaders have been axed for far less. Then again, in a young democracy where loyalty to the ruling party trumps all else, anything is possible. – Alec Hogg
By Jeanette Chabalala
