Shadow economy: ‘Sex worker? No, I’m an adult content creator’ inside South Africa’s R6 billion OnlyFans boom

“Sex worker? No, I’m an adult content creator.” For South African creators on OnlyFans and similar platforms, that distinction is not merely semantic. It is a deliberate way of stepping away from the heavily stigmatized label of sex worker.

University of Cape Town researcher Phiwokazi Qoza explored that boundary in interviews with 17 South African OnlyFans creators for a paper in Porn Studies. Their answers showed a clear hierarchy in how they described the work. Some contrasted their voluntary participation with the perceived coercion or survival needs associated with street-based sex work.

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No, I don’t think I’m a sex worker. I think a sex worker is someone who is dependent on sex work in order to survive. Someone who has no other choice. And I do it for fun…

Malaika, 25, said: “No, I don’t think I’m a sex worker. I think a sex worker is someone who is dependent on sex work in order to survive. Someone who has no other choice. And I do it for fun…” Another respondent in their late 20s, from Swakopmund, drew the line at physical contact: “No. I am a content creator. An adult content creator. If I were meeting up with people and having sex with them, then that would be sex work.”

Yet the boundary becomes harder to maintain when audiences demand physical encounters. Creators frequently receive messages offering money for sex, creating fear and psychological distress. “It feels like… prostitution. Yeah… I get DMs [direct messages] from people offering me a lot of money [to sleep with them]… I’m really scared to go because I don’t know what to expect...” Hausa, 23, said.

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No. I am a content creator. An adult content creator. If I were meeting up with people and having sex with them, then that would be sex work.

The debate over definitions sits inside a rapidly growing digital economy. Across OnlyFans, Fansly and Telegram, South Africa’s adult-content market is valued at up to R6 billion annually. Local trackers estimate that between 10,000 and 14,000 South Africans actively create content on OnlyFans. Sign-ups peak in January as school leavers confront youth unemployment above 46.5%, or more than 60% when discouraged work seekers are included. Corporate professionals also use the platform, partly to hedge against inflation.

South Africans spent more than R570 million on OnlyFans in 2025, an 18.04% increase from 2024, according to the only figures available to the publication. South Africa ranks about 34th worldwide in total spending and leads Africa, generating nearly three times Egypt’s revenue. As the shadow economy expands, the South African Revenue Service and the South African Reserve Bank have tightened enforcement. Under Section 1 of the Income Tax Act, income remains taxable regardless of its legality or moral character.

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It feels like… prostitution. Yeah… I get DMs [direct messages] from people offering me a lot of money [to sleep with them]… I’m really scared to go because I don’t know what to expect...