WHY NOT ARREST THE DRUG DEALERS?

Mitchell's Plain police made a mistake arresting DA leader Helen
Zille. Those who imagine theres's a Zimbabwe-style political motive are wrong.

Even ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe says police could have
acted with restraint against her. So we don't think any order came
from on high, as happens in Zim where opponents are routinely
detained by Robert Mugabe's jackboots.

Zille was arrested along with 15 other anti-drug protesters when she
went to the police station to find out why march leader Moulana Maker
had been held. Given the levels of incompetence in the SAPS, we can't
expect every officer to understand the consequences of their
heavy-handedness. But the attempt by MEC Leonard Ramatlakane to
justify the arrest is lamentable.

Zille has a compelling argument when she says: "Everyone knows who
the drug dealers in Mitchell's Plain are, and where they ply their
trade -- why are they not arrested? Why are people on a legal and
peaceful anti-drug march placed under heavy police surveillance,
harassment and arrest? There is something profoundly wrong with the
situation. The police should regard anti-drug activists as their
allies, not their enemies."

Indeed, and the drug problem is at the centre of the high crime rate
on the Cape Flats. Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, has a long history of
such responsible community activism. She was doing her civic duty in
an exemplary manner, yet Ramatlakane accuses her of consorting with vigilantes.

While Zille and company intend suing for wrongful arrest and
malicious prosecution, the Mitchell's Plain SAPS have brought their
own weakness into the spotlight.

Why have they not taken firmer action against drug dealers? Is there corruption?