South Africa is one of the worst countries in the world in which to be a child. Last year, in South Africa, 23 000 rapes and 50 000 cases of assault against children were reported to the police. There are many, many more cases that go unreported.

Child abuse is a complex problem, but it is clear that the rampant drug and alcohol abuse is a major factor driving it. When parents abuse drugs and alcohol, they neglect their children. These children are left to their own devices, at the mercy of those who prey on children.

And, when children are neglected and there are drug dealers on every street corner, it is not long before they are caught up in a cycle of drug and alcohol abuse themselves. Without the means to pay for drugs and alcohol, these children often resort to selling their bodies on the street to buy drugs. And this is what is happening here in Vrededorp, an area that has become infamous for having the highest rate of child abuse in the greater Johannesburg region.

The Teddy Bear Clinic in Johannesburg is currently caring for a 9 year old boy who was selling his body on Vrededorp's streets to pay for his addiction to crack cocaine. His is only one such case.

Children are being sold for sex right under the noses of the police. I am told that the corner of Caroline and Vygie Street is notorious for child prostitution. It is also happens to be located next to the Johannesburg Headquarters of the Flying Squad.

The depressing truth is that our children are not a priority for this government, despite the ANC's 2006 election manifesto that promised to put women and children first.

In fact, instead of prioritising children, the government has done the opposite by closing down the Child Protection Units where trained officers specifically dealt with cases of child abuse. When we needed more power, they closed the power stations. When we need less corruption, they disband the Scorpions. When we need more child protection, they close the CPU's.

Many of these officers were deployed to ordinary police stations. But where this has happened, research has shown that these specially-trained officers are not given the resources to deal adequately with cases of child abuse.

They are also restricted to working only in those areas where they are based, leaving vast areas with no coverage by CPU-trained personnel whatsoever. That is the situation in this community. DA councillors here inform me that there is not one police officer at the Brixton Police Station who is specifically tasked with investigating child abuse cases.

This means that the closure of the Child Protection Unit in Braamfontein has left Vrededorp with no trained police personnel dedicating to dealing with child abuse in this community.

This situation is being replicated throughout the country and it shows in the increase in incidences of child abuse and the decrease in convictions. When the Child Protection Units were running, conviction rates for child abuse were at around 75%. Now that the units have been closed, conviction rates have halved. It is the same story with the government's decision to disband the South African Narcotics Bureau in 2004. Since they were closed, drug related crimes have multiplied.

Just like the decision to disband the Scorpions, the ANC has put its own interests before the people. The real reason that Child Protection Unit officers were deployed to ordinary police stations was so that government could say that it had put more cops on the streets.

The results are plain to see. Drug abuse and child abuse are rampant and the government is doing nothing to tackle the problem.

It is time for the government to make good on its promise to put our children first and to crack down on drug abuse and the abuse of our children. Reinstating Child Protection Units and the South African Narcotics Bureau would be a start.

This is an edited extract from a speech delivered by Helen Zille, leader of the Democratic Alliance, to an anti-drug March in Vrededorp, Johannesburg, March 8 2008