CAPE TOWN - Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Mmusi Maimane will lead thousands of Cape Town residents in a march against crime to the Nyanga police station on Thursday.

The official opposition said in a statement that the African National Congress (ANC) needs to "honour their commitment to deploy the army to crime-ridden communities in Cape Town".

"On Monday the latest victim of crime – a young father - was gunned down at the Eastridge Clinic in Mitchells Plain, just metres away from the nearest police station. Cape Town’s poorest and most vulnerable communities continue to live in constant fear of gangs and drug dealers, and the rampant crime which results from this activity".

DA spokesperson Portia Adams said the ANC national government had deliberately under-resourced the DA-run Western Cape province, and criticised its failure to deploy the army despite several promises by then police minister Fikile Mbablula: "He said this would happen by Christmas of last year. But since then his successor, Bheki Cele, has completely backtracked on this promise".

But, the ANC Western Cape provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs has hit back at the accusations and said in a strongly worded statement that Maimane's call for military intervention was based on "ignorance".