Confessions of a Gaborone stripper
Sharon Mathala | Friday April 15, 2016 12:14
Together with her clique, the young woman is frequently hired to provide entertainment at bachelor parties. Their world is highly secretive and referrals are strictly by word of mouth.
What happens in the bachelor party and with whom is only known by those at the party and is the subject of rumour in Gaborone.
The young woman does not want to be named. She does not want any references to her appearance that might give away her identity. Like the dark world within which she operates, she is not ready to come out into the light. She looks like she is in her late 20s, is tall and spots a shaven hairstyle. She is dressed in black jeans and a hoodie. You could bump into her anywhere and would have no clue what she does for a living. She looks like the typical young, Gaborone woman on the go.
As we start the interview, she gives a sign that I should give her a moment and answers her phone. From what I can catch on of the call, I pick up that she was probably talking to her customers.
Before I ask anything, she explains: “That was one of the gentlemen I will be serving in two weeks. I have another job in Zeerust”.
As she lights a cigarette, she explains how she became one of the country’s top exotic dancers.
The young woman started what she calls “the legitimate business” at the age of 18, when she completed high school.
“I always loved the finer things in life and this business was the only way I could keep up with my lifestyle.”
Her first job was in 2009. She started by challenging a group of men that she was with that she could strip for them, but only if they paid her.
“I told them I could give them the show of their life. We were in Francistown at one man’s house. The men agreed and put out their hundred pulas on the table and I did my thing. They liked it,” she says.
“A few weeks later the man called me back saying he had organised a stag party for one of his best friends and asked if I was interested in stripping for them at a fee. They asked that I bring other girls and I brought two of my friends.” Because the bachelor party had many attendees, she soon found her network growing rapidly and she began to receive invites for performances from those who had seen or heard about her from her first job.
“They told others, who told others. Most of the parties are held outside Botswana, but some are local.”
Things, however, soon went further than just stripping. The customers wanted more.
“At first it was just the stripping, but for more money we had to do other things to make our customers happy,” she says, enigmatically.
According to the exotic dancer, the women are transported to a secret location, where the stag party would be held. Usually, one man from the stag party organisers is designated to take care of them.
“Usually the men will book at a secluded lodge and we are taken into a room to wait until the time comes, which is usually around 12pm. That is when we are expected to entice the attendants.”
“We dance provocatively around the men, but giving more attention to the groom. “The dancing is usually in phases and in the last phase we are completely naked.
“We then ‘service’ the groom, but the guests have to pay.
“We service the groom whose fee has already been included in the package. The other men attending have to pay and the next day we are transported back.”
A shocker comes up during the interview. The young woman reveals that that she was part of a group of women who were famously stranded in Durban sometime last year. The story fast became a local social media sensation, with the suggestion that they had been taken there by a wealthy man for the Durban July.
“We went there for another gig, but the customers were not happy. They wanted more ‘service’ but because that was not in the initial agreement, we refused and they left us there.
“We left Botswana with them and had absolutely nothing but our bags. However, we managed to get back in the country, but of course Facebook had already picked up the story.”
According to the woman, the men in question are mostly married and still keep in touch.
“They keep in touch. They call for one-on-Done jobs and after they pays, I go my way. They are not really cheating on their wives. They are just feeding their sexual desires and there are no strings attached.
“We do not have friendly chats. It’s just business.”