I'LL DO IT AGAIN, SAY DEFIANT ZILLE

Defiant Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille vowed on Tuesday to continue to
lead a street battle against suspected drug dealers in the city,
with Atlantis her next target this Sunday.

Zille planned to enter the Mitchells Plain magistrate's court on
Tuesday morning declaring her innocence on a charge that she staged
an illegal gathering outside the Mitchell's Plain police station on Sunday.

Meanwhile, national ANC heavyweights were at odds with their
provincial officials over her arrest.

In Pretoria on Monday, ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe said
Zille's arrest had been "unfortunate" and that she should have been
treated with respect and dignity to protect the image of South Africa.

"We would have thought, without changing the principle that all
shall be equal before the law, that all uphold the law and that the
rule of law be applied without fear or favour, that a person holding
such high public office should have been treated with (a modicum of
respect). The correct thing would have been for (Zille) to be
treated with the dignity her office called for."

But Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane lambasted Zille's
anti-drug protest and praised the police action.

In an interview on Monday, he said Zille's actions smacked of "cheap
politicking", "hypocrisy" and "grossly abusing her power as mayor
and DA leader", instead of taking practical action in the fight
against crime and drugs.

Ramatlakane said that if she, or anyone in the community, wanted to
march against drug dealers, they should do so lawfully.

"When the city police marched and blocked the N2, they were armed
and in full uniform. She asked the police to intervene because they
were contravening the law.

"When she does the exact same thing, she wants everyone to close
their eyes to it. It shows hypocrisy and double standards on her
part," he said.

Zille was arrested after demanding that the police explain the
arrest of Moulana Armien Maker earlier, as he and Zille sought entry
at the gates of homes suspected to be used in the drug trade.

Zille said on Tuesday that she welcomed Motlanthe's "sanity" on the matter.

"He understands that peaceful protest is a legitimate part of the
political landscape. The police's job is to protect peaceful
protesters, not to harass and arrest them.

"He understands what an embarrassment this kind of heavy-handed,
unwarranted action has for South Africa's image abroad."

"The message being sent is complete intolerance for the
constitutional right to peaceful protest and authoritarian police
action. The message locally is that the police are more interested
in arresting protesters instead of the druglords."

And she has vowed to file counter-charges against the police
alleging wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.

"I will be pleading not guilty because I know I did nothing wrong
and because I know what motives lie behind my arrest.

"People in Mitchells Plain want politicians to be with them on the
ground, tackling drugs and abuse and exposing the drug merchants.

"I'm going to continue to do this - we have a march in Sunday in
Atlantis," Zille said.

But Ramatlakane said: "If she wants to sue the police, she should go
ahead and do so and the police would have to defend their actions.
But (at the time of the march) the police took what action they needed to."

Ramatlakane said Zille had been warned by police that her protest
was illegal when she marched in the area in July, but she had again
taken to the streets, "knowingly and willingly contravening the law".

"Crime requires everyone to fight against it  political parties
should stop politicking for cheap political short-term gains when we
should all put our shoulders to the wheel in this matter."

The province had asked the City of Cape Town to help identify
council houses where drug-dealing was believed to be taking place,
so that the occupants could be evicted."

But the city had failed to do so, he said.

He dismissed allegations that police were not arresting drug dealers
in Mitchell's Plain. "It's absolute nonsense we were the ones that
started the fight against drugs and gangsterism, this ANC government."

According to Ramatlakane's office, between April and July, 1 724
drug-related arrests had been made in Mitchells Plain, and 'there
had been 707 seizures of drugs.

Five tik factories had been shut down and 7 733g of tik seized in a
three-month operation compared to 8 321 for all of last year.