'Sex stokvels must fall'

Pretoria - The so-called Mavuso and no panties sex gatherings were degrading to the people of the capital and bringing the liquor trading industry into disrepute.

This is according to informal traders who descended on various taverns in the unofficial Mavuso capital of Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, on Wednesday afternoon.

They chanted Mavuso Must Fall as they entered taverns, some of which featured on eNCA programme Checkpoint last week as the host venues for the sex stokvel.

Mavuso is township slang for money given to a woman after she had spent a night engaging in sex with a man. At the stokvel gatherings, an amount for the week is announced to be paid by each member.

Subsequent negotiations take place between the member and a woman of his choice. They then agree on a certain fee for spending the night together.

They party or attend social functions together as a couple before retreating to a love nest.

Mavuso is held alongside another sex gathering, known as No Panties.

Oupa Mthombeni, leader of the Concerned Tshwane Liquor Traders Association, said their tough action against the taverns was intended to put an end to the stokvel. He said the phenomenon was shameful to the dignity of the tavern trade and the city in general.

"We are responsible liquor traders and are helping the government to fight HIV and Aids, as well as other social issues. Anything that tampers with that must stop," said Mthombeni.

Hundreds of members of the organisation, accompanied by police officers, targeted three taverns believed to host the stokvel, including the one that was featured on television.

Mthombeni, leading from the front, reprimanded the tavern owners who hosted the stokvel and spoke to them about being responsible traders. He warned them that if they continued to host the stokvel, their businesses would be closed down. "We can't let an activity like this go on like it is normal.

"I have been selling liquor for 21 years and had never seen something like this appalling activity," he said.

Mthombeni said the sex stokvel took place on weekdays and continued until late at night. The extended hours of trading, he said, was a contravention of the legislation and liquor trading regulations.

But according to Shadrack Sibanda, owner of 700 Tavern in the area, Mavuso was an age-old practice aimed at promoting the culture of saving.

He said people got it all wrong by confusing it with prostitution. His tavern had been hosting the stokvel since June last year, he said.

Sibanda was ordered to stop hosting such gatherings as they were leading to "disgusting" results.

He promised to stop and said he understood everything that had been explained to him.

Teresa Maponya, whose mother Thati Maponya also hosted Mavuso in their New Eersterust tavern, told the concerned liquor traders their last stokvel was last month.

Maponya said they regularly hosted Mavuso and no panties events, and she had witnessed young girls accompanying older men to the gatherings.

"The girls wore short skirts with no underwear, and would perform inappropriate dance moves, revealing their private parts in the process," she said.

"My father would sit here watching all those things. But we sat down as a family and agreed to stop hosting the stokvel. I would not allow my father to continue seeing such things."