Equal Before God But Not Men

"All men are equal before God, but all men are not equal before men because the differences are obvious. "

So says James Thomas Kruger, South Africa's Minister of Justice, Police and Prisons, and thus the man in charge of trying to control the rioting that is racking the nation. He has strong opinions on the cause of that rioting. Blaming it on "the black-power movement based in America," he recently told a friendly audience of National Party followers in his native Orange Free State: "They sing We Shall Overcome. Well, they are wrong. We shall overcome. . . The black knows his place, and if not, I'll tell him his place." Several days later, after his words had been widely quoted, Kruger complained that there had been a misunderstanding. What he had said, Kruger claimed, was that there were "people seeking confrontation, and they will be put in their place."

A deceptively cherubic man of 58, Jimmy Kruger is a traditional Afrikaner puritan, the product of a farming family and a correspondence-course college education. As Justice Minister, he seems to enjoy the diversion of cracking down on Sunday movies, which are technically illegal under South Africa's blue laws. Himself the father of two sons (his wife Susanna is the author of a book of essays), he often speaks of his country's race problems in unabashedly paternalistic tones. "Anarchy--that's what the children of Soweto want," he told a local newspaper. "And if their parents can't control them, I will."

Kruger has from time to time advocated a new deal for his country's African population and has helped to desegregate some of the country's best hotels and restaurants. He is far better known, however, for his kragdadigheid (iron-fistedness). He has defended the actions of his police to the hilt, declaring them to be "in the forefront of the fight to combat Communism [which is] infiltrating the country." Asked why the police did not use rubber bullets during the June rioting in Soweto in which 176 were killed, Kruger replied: "Rubber bullets give the impression the police have rubber guns. They cannot protect life and property with rubber guns, and I have no intention of asking them to do so."

In May, Kruger guided through Parliament an omnibus security bill, known as the Internal Security Act, that provides for the indefinite detention without trial of any person whom the police deem to be a security risk. As his police continued a nationwide crackdown on black militants last week, Kruger confirmed that 77 people were being detained under the Internal Security Act; some sources say that the number is at least twice as high. The minister added that 744 others, most of them black, had been arrested on such charges as rioting, arson and "causing a disturbance."

One of Kruger's complaints about South African society today is that the English-language press is too free. He advocates a law that would prevent publication of the names of people detained without trial under the security laws--a prospect that appalls white moderates. Kruger's proposal, they fear, could transform South Africa from a police state into a secret police state.

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