Fishing and sea-based industries contribute greatly to the economies of Southern Africa. Major ports along the southern African coast are the start and end points of most of Africa’s transport corridors, and contribute to economic growth. The ports also link transport corridors and port communities with seafarers from all over the world.

Port communities have unique dynamics that impact on the HIV vulnerability of the local community, including sex workers and mobile workers such as seafarers and land transport workers who stay at the ports for relatively short periods of time.

The implications and consequences of unsafe sexual practices within the sexual network of mobile workers and local populations affect not only the workers and their partners in the ports, but also the broader port communities and the families of mobile workers thousands of miles away. 

Durban Port, South Africa

The Durban Port is the biggest and busiest port in Africa and employs more than 25,000 workers of whom at least a quarter are casual labourers. Most workers are migrants from rural Kwa-Zulu Natal and they live either in nearby townships like Umlazi and KwaMashu, or in former same-sex hostels closer to the harbour. The port also attracts foreign workers, from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and even Tanzania.

Mobile populations at the port include seafarers from diverse countries including American, Britain, China, Croatia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Spain and Ukraine  Thousands of truck drivers from all over southern Africa visit the port every week, often sleeping in their trucks along the side of the harbour. 

An IOM study from 2009 found generally high levels of risky behaviour and poor levels of HIV knowledge among mobile workers at the port. Respondents believed that having multiple partners or engaging with sex workers was acceptable behaviour for men. Whilst most reported condom use, they did not use them in longer-term relationships, as they “trusted” their partners.

On the whole, the study revealed vulnerabilities such as: Separation from families or regular partners for long periods which encourages interaction with sex workers and the formation of multiple partnerships; Cultural beliefs around gender and sex; Sense of anonymity and limited accountability, leading to high-risk behaviour including alcohol abuse; and lack of education in general and HIV awareness in particular. 

The study found very few HIV prevention services targeting mobile workers associated with the port. Casual workers, in particular, had no access to company clinics, HIV education sessions or medical aid. This proved to be a major challenge for casual workers, whose only other alternative is government health clinics and hospitals. Accessing government health care was found to have challenges especially for casual and foreign workers due to poor service and long wait-times, fear of possible anti-foreigner attitudes, and language barriers.  

Walvis Bay, Namibia

Walvis Bay is Namibia’s only deep-water port and attracts job seekers from all over Namibia as well as other southern African countries. In addition, Walvis Bay has two major highways that link Namibia with Angola, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa – the Trans-Caprivi Highway, and the Trans-Kalahari Highway.

Walvis Bay also attracts many foreign fishermen from international vessels who arrive regularly from Europe (Spain, Russia) and Asia (China). The presence of seafarers and truck drivers provide additional incentives for sex workers, creating complex sexual networks that stretch between mobile workers and the local community.

Truck drivers often stay in Walvis Bay for only short periods of time while freight is loaded or off-loaded. During this time they may frequent bars and meet sex workers. Depending on where they are from they may have had some HIV education, but there is often an unwillingness to internalise HIV messages and change sexual behaviour.

Foreign seafarers are often on three to six-month employment contracts with short-term shore leave as short as two days at times. While on shore they may engage in once-off unprotected sex and high-risk sexual activities with sex workers, or may establish medium-term relationships with local partners who may have other sexual partners (sex workers as “girlfriends”). They are unlikely to receive HIV education prior to arrival in southern Africa, as they typically come from countries with low prevalence where there is little attention to HIV education. Once at the ports, not only do their short periods of stay make them difficult to target, but also language and cultural barriers make it difficult for them to access information and services.

As with foreign seafarers, there is widespread alcohol misuse among local seafarers, which may be driven by a lack of recreational activities while on shore leave, separation from family, and the inability to communicate with family and loved ones while on the ships.

Sex work links truck drivers, fishermen and sex workers in a triangle of risk. Transactional sex further ties sedentary populations (local girlfriends, other clients of sex workers) to this sexual network, linking Walvis Bay to other locations in southern Africa and in other parts of the world.

Conclusion

In order to respond effectively to the HIV pandemic, Namibia and South Africa must target their response to those populations and settings where HIV infection risks and vulnerabilities are highest, as part of a rights-based framework. Even in countries with generalized epidemics, sub-populations are often overlooked and not sufficiently included in programmes and policies designed to ensure universal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support. There is increasing recognition that migrants and mobile populations are being left out of HIV responses, despite potentially playing an important role in the sexual networks of multiple and concurrent. Efforts to ensure HIV prevention and treatment among migrants is further complicated by problems they face in accessing health services overall.

With funding from the SADC HIV and AIDS Special Fund, IOM will over the next three years undertake further research in the ports of Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania.