The ‘sugar daddy’ rush
In 2012, the KZN Department of Education recorded 10 500 teenage pregnancies
WHILE South Africa boasts a professional and vibrant middle class in the democratic era, those at the bottom of the food chain are still being battered by the whirlwind of poverty.
The situation on the ground is so grim the most vulnerable are turning to ‘sugar daddies’ for a quick escape.
In a sprawling township on the outskirts of a Zululand urban area, going to bed hungry with nothing but a glass of water is a norm. The small dilapidated house is no buffer to the harsh weather elements as well as the verbal onslaught from an intoxicated father day in and day out.
But when a charming man with stylish clothes pays attention to a naïve girl hanging the daily washing, a way out is proposed with a single glance.
Studies have shown the rate of HIV among school-aged girls in South Africa is nearly three times higher than among school-aged boys. The reason for the gap has been linked to ‘sugar daddies’ – with one in four high school girls contracting HIV through relationships with older men.
Having a sugar daddy for a 14-year-old means a fancy life, posh clothes, a sense of security and a happily-ever-after fairy tale that unfortunately never comes to pass.
The disturbing reality is that most high school girls see the risks but are prepared to take them.
However, when schoolgirls as young as 10 years-of-age are impregnated by exploitive older men, because they needed taxi fare home, it is ‘mayday’!
The very thought of this practice evokes a sense of anger, humiliation and disgust that brothers, fathers, uncles, role models and working class men would resort to such inhumane practices. Sugar coating aside, this is paedophilia.
Yet it is society’s silence that fuels this demeaning and unthinkable scourge.
When a better life for all has not materialised for the poor and our mothers turn a blind eye as grocery cupboards are filled by sugar daddies, we have failed our girl child.
There is no happy ending here as young girls are left with the responsibility of rearing children alone. Who will save our girl child? Will the real men in Zululand please stand up?
