DA panties swiped in 'raids'
2005-12-06 00:44
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance's plan to focus the attention on violence against women and children went badly wrong in a poor Cape community in a panties raid.
About 22 000 pieces of underwear were pegged to washing lines in Nooitgedacht in Bishop Lavis by members of the community.
The underwear, donated by various sponsors, was meant to symbolise the intimacy of women and girls and to emphasise to men that they should not recklessly continue to abuse women and children.
DA leader Tony Leon, guest speaker for the occasion, was meant to help peg the clothes to the lines.
But, by the time he arrived, the numerous washing lines had been stripped by residents helping themselves.
Nervous DA members stood around while a bodyguard tried to retrieve some of the stolen underwear from the crowd.
Leon and DA MP Mike Walters, the party's spokesperson on welfare, had to continue as if the missing underwear was still part of the programme.
Shortly after Leon's departure, the fight for the remaining pieces of underwear started again and journalists had to be careful not to be trampled by the crowd.
Organisers said the underwear was meant to be distributed to homes for abused women and children after the ceremony.