Capt Dan Mahlangu of Dawn Park SAPS warned motorists about a spate of hijackings on Diana Road, Mapleton, predominantly at a spot sex workers frequent.
He said motorists should be cautious on this road because criminals appear to be using sex workers to lure motorists so they can hijack them.
“We have received several reports of hijackings in this area and have assigned officers to patrol the area on weekdays. However, these incidents spike on weekends.
We have arrested a lot of prostitutes in the area, but the escort agencies always criticise our actions.
“They claim we are harassing the prostitutes and abusing our power over them. The agencies have even claimed our officers are corrupt when we are only trying to stop these illegal activities.
“They state there’s no law that supports public prostitution on national roads and want us to leave the women who are prostituting illegally. When we are arresting and removing the prostitutes, we are acting lawfully and doing our duty, as well as protecting them from being killed or hurt. That is what they are not aware of as escort agencies.
“It is not only hijackings that are happening on Diana Road. There are a lot of illegal activities happening on the road and in the whole of Mapleton. We are keen to change this.
“The prostitutes we usually arrest are not sent to prison. They are fined or released on bail. Most say they are driven by poverty to sell their bodies, which is understandable, but the fact remains prostitution is illegal.
“If anyone sees prostitution taking place, they must report it to the nearest police station for the law to prevail,” said Mahlangu.
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