Two transsexuals have been spared incarceration after their lawyer put it to the Durban Magistrate’s Court that they would belong neither in a female nor a male prison.

Magistrate N Myeni delivered Chinada Pokehat, 37, and Weereyut Seejad, 28, suspended sentences on their R1000 fine, or four months in prison.

They were scheduled to fly out of South Africa yesterday, at their own expense, after having been arrested for being in the country illegally for a year, said their lawyer, Niven Rai. He would not comment on how they had supported themselves since arriving but said they had been based in uMhlanga.

“They were terrified,” said Rai, adding that they were “too embarrassed” to be interviewed by The Independent on Saturday.

“The consequences could border on disastrous should they have been detained in an all-male cell,” he said.