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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
GWANDA residents have raised concern over the mushrooming of brothels and shebeens resulting in a surge in criminal activity in the town.

The concerns were expressed following the murder of a 24-year-old gold panner who was stabbed to death during a dispute over a sex worker.

Ward 8 residents held a meeting on Wednesday and resolved that brothels and shebeens in the area should be shut down.

A team comprising the Ward committee led by Councillor Wilson Dube was deployed on Thursday to give a final warning to shebeen and brothel operators.

“The residents are now fed up because of these brothels and shebeens that are mushrooming especially in our ward. We have residents who are offering sex workers accommodation and some are operating shebeens that are being frequented by sex workers. These sex workers are mostly people who come from other towns to do their dirty work here,” said Clr Dube.

“We have resolved that no resident should accommodate sex workers and shebeens have to be closed. Lives have been lost and we have witnessed a lot of violence because of these sex workers. They rob people and cause a lot of tension in society.”

Mr Dube said they had given brothel operators a 48-hour ultimatum to evict the sex workers.

He said some residents were housing up to 30 sex workers as tenants in their homes.

Residents who spoke during the meeting said the shebeens were attracting criminals into their ward.

“There is a lot of noise coming from these shebeens at night and the people who frequent them are a nuisance. They are the same people who break into our homes. They hurl obscenities and display rowdy behaviour in the presence our children.

“There is also littering of condoms and dagga on our roads because of shebeens and brothels. A number of marriages have also been broken because of brothels,” said Mr Albert Nyathi who is a resident of Gwanda.

Residents also called on the police to conduct raids in shebeens and brothels. They also appealed to law enforcers to conduct night patrols in order to curb criminal activities.

Speaking at the same meeting, the Officer in Charge Gwanda Urban, Chief Inspector Muyambirwa Muzzah, assured locals that police would address their concerns.

He discouraged residents from accommodating or hiring people of no fixed abode.

Chief Insp Muzzah urged locals to request identification of people they intended to engage.

A 24-year-old gold panner from Binga was stabbed to death in Phakama Suburb, Gwanda on Tuesday at around 3AM during a dispute over a sex worker.

Tungamirayi Kokerayi of Mutsvanga Village in Chirumanzi met Alifao Munsaka (24) of Makole Village in Binga near house number 1057 Phakama Suburb in Gwanda and an argument ensued over a woman.

Munsaka was coming from Cry Mantengwane Night Club with a sex worker that he had hired for the night when they met Kokerayi who accused him of walking with his girlfriend which resulted in an altercation. — @DubeMatutu.