The mayor of Cape Town and leader of the Democratic Alliance was arrested on Sunday while taking part in an anti-drug demonstration, party officials said.
Helen Zille said she and about 15 other people had been arrested while taking part in a march in Cape Town's notorious gangland known as the Cape Flats.
"The last time I witnessed people treated in this way was during anti-apartheid protests," Zille said in a statement.
Western Cape police spokesman Captain Elliot Sinyangana confirmed the arrest of Zille and eight others, saying they had been "illegally gathering" in front of the Mitchells Plain police station.
He said Zille and the eight others were released with a warning and were to appear in court yesterday.
Zille said the 500-person march, which included the mayor and the deputy mayor, had been delivering petitions at alleged drug-houses protesting the illegal sale of alcohol and drugs on the premises. Permission had been obtained for the march from the authorities, Zille said.
She said that, during the march, a Muslim priest, one of the organizer of the protest, was arrested.
Marchers then went to the Mitchells Plain police station, where protesters were arrested.
Sinyangana said the organizer was arrested for violating conditions of the march.
He said this had been explained to the group who had gathered at the police station. The group was advised to disperse and not to "obstruct the course of justice."
"After they failed to heed the call of the police, they were arrested," he told the South African Press Association.
Zille said the group would sue for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.
In recent months, residents of the area have been marching to the homes of alleged drug lords, demanding that they stop their trade or move out.
Officials banned the marches after one turned violent, with protesters burning the homes of two alleged drug dealers.
The president of the African Christian Democratic Party, Kenneth Meshoe, expressed concern at Zille's arrest.
"It is shocking and unacceptable that government fails to deal with criminals. They are arresting innocent people," he said.
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