Alarm over rise in brothels

Residents have called on the Municipality of Gwanda and police to act on illegal activities which have resulted in the increase in crime in the mining town.

Residents said they were being terrorised by people armed with machetes and axes. A number of robberies, theft, assault, rape, attempted murder and murder cases have been reported in the town in recent months.

Residents were speaking during an engagement meeting which was organised by the Women Coalition of Zimbabwe in the town last week. They added that they were concerned with the proliferation of brothels.

"We realise that because of these brothels, most of the illegal gold-panners are causing a lot of trouble in the town. We suspect that they get into crime while trying to get money to pay commercial sex workers whom they meet at the brothels. Shebeens are also increasing in the town.

A lot of residents are using their properties to open up shebeens and brothels, so as to make a quick buck. Commercial sex workers are charged US$5 per day to use a room in these brothels," said a resident.

In an interview, Ward 9 councillor Thulani Moyo said that the increase in robberies was a cause for concern.

"As councillors we have been hearing of these issues daily. We recently had a meeting with the police where by the officer in charge was highlighting the number of cases within the town and the strategies used by the police to curb these issues.

There will be police patrols daily." He also encouraged landlords not to house strangers.

"Landlords are a problem because they are the ones who are giving shelter to these criminals who are not vetted.

They should know who they have housed to avoid a lot of crime. l encourage every landlord to go through a vetting process with prospective tenants so that the police will be aware of them.