Brazen acts of prostitution shocks Pinetown residents
"We have school children that often walk past here and even they are exposed to such iniquities," said the resident.
COPULATING couples and people involved in various other sexual acts best kept private is not what residents want to be exposed to on their drive home. Residents of Hatton Estate and Pine Ridge in Pinetown are calling on authorities to step in to stop the brazen prostitution in the area.
Reports from the community have identified three roads in which these women operate. They are Underwood Road, and at the intersection of Forestgate and Bartlett Roads. One resident, who asked not to be named, said she drove home one day and was shocked to find a woman and her client engaging in a sexual act right on her driveway.
She asked them to move, and amazingly, the woman simply rose from her client’s lap and ‘shamelessly’ moved on to another area nearby where she continued to ply her trade.
“It’s disgusting, not to mention humiliating for anyone to have to see this. We have school children that often walk past here and even they are exposed to such iniquities,” said the resident.
She and other concerned residents said the neighbourhood watches in the area are fully aware of what’s been happening and have even tried to remove these prostitutes from the area, but they go away only to return to the same spot after a few days. Gian Paolo Polia (Paul), the Pine Ridge Neighbourhood Watch chairman said they have a huge prostitution issue on their borders.
“We regularly chase these women away when we see them but they can be quite aggressive at times so we advise the public to not talk to them. We have tried numerous channels at our disposal to have this business removed from our neighbourhood, however, nothing has been done to date.
“The problem we are finding with this type of entrepreneurial business is the crime that it attracts to our area. We have had numerous incidents within the area they are operating in,” said Paola Polia.
Pinetown SAPS communications officer, W/O Muzi Maphumulo said the police are aware of the prostitution in the area. He said he believes there are not more than five women operating in this particular area.
He said when caught, these prostitutes are issued with a R200 fine and, if they don’t pay the fine, they are then issued with a summons to pay the fine or appear in court.
“If they don’t pay the fine, a warrant of arrest gets issued in court and they may be arrested and put in custody as any offender with a warrant of arrest.
However, the same people are getting charged. They pay their fine and go back to prostitution.
“Police are also challenged when prosecuting the prostitutes as some cases get thrown out of court due to a lack of evidence,” said Maphumulo.
He added that with regards to the law, prostitution is not yet legalised even though there are some community groups which are pushing for its legalisation.
“But until it is legalised, police will continue to charge the prostitutes,” he said.
In your opinion, what should be done to curb the prevalence of prostitution?
— Highway Mail (@HighwayMail) February 22, 2017
