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Angella Johnson
WHEN Denise saw the newspaper advertisement offering single ladies a free upmarket dating agency she lost no time in dialling the cellphone number and joining up. The 40-year-old divorced advocate from Johannesburg’s plush northern suburbs was looking for a steady relationship with a tall good-looking, single man.
So she was taken aback when the first candidate rang her at home and asked: “Do you want a fuck or a serious relationship?”
She demanded to know his marital status. “He said very calmly that he was married, like it was nothing to worry about,” says Denise (whose surname has been withheld to spare her blushes).
Giving the caller short shift, Denise contacted the agency and was told it had been a mistake. But 85 calls later she had weeded out about 65 married men.
“It seemed unlikely that a mistake could have gone on for several months,” she says.
She began fielding the calls in January and the penny finally dropped in April when one young caller explained that he had got her name and number after responding to an advertisement in Hustler magazine under the heading “Ride a Housewife”.
He said he had paid R280 directly into an Absa bank account. He had then received a list of 20 women’s names – supposedly bored housewives looking for a good time.
Tony Marques, who runs Ride a Housewife, tells his male clients there are plenty women out there for you and you don’t have to pay them any money for adult fun. You just have to pay him for their names.
A dentist, Marques set up the lucrative business just over two years ago and claims he offers two categories of introductions – for those seeking fun and those seeking a relationship. The adverts have been placed in newspapers across the country.
“This is a very popular and reliable service,” he says. “We have lots of our customers coming back, but it’s possible that these women had their names given out to the wrong men in error. If someone is unhappy we’ll sort it out.”
Denise is not convinced. “I was made to feel cheap. It was degrading and not at all what I had signed up for. As far as I’m concerned this whole thing is a rip-off and someone out there is making a lot of money from unsuspecting men and women.”
At least six other women share her fears. Victoria, a divorced teacher, had to change her phone number to stop the barrage of telephonic lechery.
“I was getting calls from men wanting sex. I was very embarrassed by some of the things they suggested down the line and I’m sure lots of women have had to endure similar things,” she says.
Marques insists his is no con. “If we didn’t make it free for women then we wouldn’t get any names for the lists,” he says. “You can’t please everyone.”