Democratic Alliance (DA) leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille led a large group of residents of Atlantis on the West Coast last night in a protest march against crime and drug abuse.

The leader also took the opportunity to endorse DA candidate, Barbara Rass, for the upcoming by-election tomorrow in ward 32 in Atlantis. She says Rass has been a good leader in the community and has fought tirelessly for the rights of abused women and children.

Rass was also described as an activist and crusader against crime and drug abuse. Zille urged the community to stand together tomorrow and give Rass the opportunity to show what she can do in the area. She said the march with the community was to show that they are united in the fight against crime.

“We have been working in this area for many years and we are marching together against crime. But, you need the right representative to help in the fight against crime,” says Zille.

Last week, President Jacob Zuma became the first South African head of state to acknowledge that crime in South Africa was the most violent in the world while justifying changes to the law on the use of lethal force in the National Assembly.

Opposition leaders who have made similar suggestions have been slapped down, particularly by former President Thabo Mbeki, who insisted that there was no qualitative difference between crime in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

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