POLOKWANE – Parks and other public places meant to be used by families and friends to relax at are actually being used for prostitution and illicit sexual practices.
This was according to several complaints to Review by residents from various areas of the city.
Review investigated these complaints in some of the areas including Flora Park and Ladanna, and found no less than 50 condom wrappers and used condoms within a radius of around 100m².
Jacky Schoeman, a resident of Ladanna, complained that there was prostitution taking place at night from around 19:00 in Pietersburg Street between Mara and Hill Street.
“How can we raise our children and teach them moral values when they are faced with prostitution around every corner? When will the police do something about these people and their criminal activities,” she asked.
At the Flora Park dam, despite the palisade fencing that was erected by the municipality, adults and teens are often seen having sex in the park, residents residing across the road from the park said.
One of these residents, Jeremy Kastelyn, said he and his wife used to enjoy regular walks around the dam, but this had changed since the area was being used for illicit activities.
“What used to be a relaxing and beautiful area that residents could be proud of, has now been turned into an open rubbish dump,” he said.
Municipal spokesperson, Malesela Maubane, said the municipality regularly cleaned up areas like the Flora Park dam and open fields throughout the city.
“There are schedules to be followed for identified areas and the problem arises between cleaning times. It is then when rubbish piles up,” he said.
He further said the municipality was in the process of closing problem areas in the city and in those areas that had already been closed; the problems with littering and other illegal activities had become less.
In a monthly community policing forum meeting held recently it was discussed that most of the illegal drug dealing happened in open areas like the Flora Park dam had been put to an end with regular police patrols. However, people using alcohol in public was still a problem, as was prostitution.
Polokwane police spokesperson, WO Lesiba Ramoshaba, called on residents who lived close to problem areas to report public indecency and prostitution immediately as this was against the law and would be punished.
