Durban - Pietermaritzburg residents have welcomed the crackdown by police on prostitutes in the CBD who they say are a menace on the streets.
Police spokesman, Captain Zenzele Ndlovu, confirmed on Monday that 15 people had been arrested for prostitution at the weekend in a crime prevention operation conducted in the city centre.
“Prostitution is rife in the CBD and it has contributed to significant increases in other contact crimes like rapes, assaults and robberies,” Ndlovu said.
Prostitutes are arrested on a regular basis, however police raids have done little to keep the women off the streets.
According to social worker, Pam Zondi, prostitution will remain a social ill because of the low fines imposed on offenders, which does little to deter women from returning to the trade.
“This is an epidemic that needs to be addressed by the government. Poverty and lack of education play crucial roles in where these women are today,” Zondi said.
Berg Street resident, Angela Davis, told the Daily News on Monday that while she applauded the police’s intervention in trying to get prostitutes off the streets, they continued to invade the CBD and ply their trade on a 24-hour basis.
Manor resident, Delwin Naidoo, said he had seen prostitutes using the Manor sports ground to conduct their “business” on several occasions.
“We cannot even take our children out to the ground for recreational purposes now because it has become a filthy and lewd environment,” Naidoo said, adding he had been propositioned by prostitutes almost daily when walking to his mail box.
Retief Street resident and business owner, Sahil Omar, said residents had had enough of the “immoral street-walkers” who have taken over the CBD.
One prostitute, who identified herself as Natalie, said that women in her position worked the streets because they had no choice.
“Women like me don’t want to do this, but we need to do it to support our children,” she said.
“The money is good. Yes, it is a dangerous job, but it is a means to an end,” she said.
A source at the Msunduzi Municipality said that while they recognised that prostitution had become an increasing problem in the city, the municipality was unable to act because the prostitutes were not operating from a designated building, which would have enabled prosecution through the town planning scheme.
The matter then falls to the police to deal with.
Ndlovu said that police would continue to conduct their raids and respond to incidents reported by residents.
In Durban, metro police carried out a similar operation in the CBD at the weekend
Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi said police raided the Butterworth Hotel in Joe Slovo (Field) Street and arrested 55 women for alleged prostitution.
The women were charged and appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s court on Monday.
Daily News