Knickers nicked at SA rape demo

Each pair of pants represented a child rape in South Africa

Underwear thieves undermined an anti-rape event organised by South Africa's Democratic Alliance on Monday.

The DA hung out 22,486 pairs of girl's underwear, representing the annual number of child rapes, in Cape Town's Bishop Lavis township.

The idea was to distribute the panties afterwards, but some members of the crowd rushed in and grabbed them before DA leader Tony Leon arrived.

The stunt was part of the annual 16 days of action against gender violence.

"The crowd jumped the gun because people were afraid that if they waited they would not get one," Mr Leon told The Star newspaper afterwards.

"This just highlights the desperation of people there - they wanted to make sure they got some panties."

Bishop Lavis is situated in Cape Town's poor and crime-ridden Cape Flats region.

Throughout South Africa, 55,000 rapes are reported each year and many more go unreported.