Beit Bridge Town Council has clamped down on residents who are using their houses as brothels in the border town.

The Town Secretary, Dr Sipho expressed concern over the mushrooming of brothels. “We noted with great concern that some residents had turned their houses into commercial properties, where they accommodated commercial sex workers.

“We recently held a meeting with 10 residents involved in that illegal practice and ordered them to stop forthwith, failure of which we will apply the law,” he said. He added that those who defied the directive to shut down the brothels risked losing their properties.

“As a local authority, we are the owners and custodians of the land, hence we would like to warn residents against defying the order. We are empowered to repossess the houses under the Urban Councils Act," he said.

The local authority has listed 12 houses that have been identified as brothels. However, the number of such houses harbouring prostitutes is believed to be higher. Most of the houses are situated near Dulibadzimu Bus Terminus and the entire area had been turned into a red light district, where young girls parade their semi-naked bodies to attract male clients.

Residents who spoke to Mirror have welcomed the council’s move, saying it would go a long way in addressing accommodation problems in the border town. “This issue of turning houses into brothels has affected residents negatively and you will find that genuine homeseekers are now failing to secure decent accommodation. Some lodgers are evicted willy-nilly by landlords to pave the way for commercial sex workers who pay high rentals daily,” said an irate Dulibadzimu resident.

Another resident, Mr Jameson Ndou, echoed those sentiments: “These commercial sex workers, some from as far as Masvingo, pay rent through the nose, unlike regular tenants who pay on a monthly basis. In some cases, you find that six prostitutes are staying crammed in a single room, with each paying between R30 and R50 per day. The landlord will be raking in about R9 000 per room every month.” A normal monthly rental for a house in Dulibadzimu ranges between R400 and R500.