We're behind you - Zuma

2009-10-31 22:12

Cape Town - Mitchell's Plain can count on the government's "full support" in its fight against gangs and drugs, President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday.

"Mitchell's Plain already has a good track record in the fight against crime," Zuma told a crowd of several hundred, who had gathered at a festival marking the township's 35th birthday.

"We know that the communities of Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha have taken a strong stance against drugs and gangsterism and you have government's full support."

Police recently launched a 30-day lockdown of Mitchell's Plain after the death of two street committee members, Mervyn Jacobs and Vincent Naidoo, who had been campaigning against drug sellers in the area.

Zuma paid tribute to Jacobs and Naidoo, saying they had "paid the ultimate price".

"In their memory, let us continue to battle to keep our communities safer by working with law enforcement agencies to fight crime," said Zuma, who was greeted with loud cheers.

Zuma also appealed to coloured and African communities to make their "divisions" a thing of a past.

"We are one people and no one should make us despise one another," he said.

Zuma was greeted with silence as he sang his trademark song, but received loud applause as he danced on stage.

"Daai man kan dans (that man can dance)," a woman in the crowd was heard saying in Afrikaans.

- SAPA