South Africa Policing the Police

A commission appointed by President F.W. de Klerk leveled a stinging indictment last week: 30 police officers had acted illegally when they fired into a crowd of black protesters last March, killing five people and wounding 200. The direct cause of the shootings was a lack of discipline and control over the ranks, said the report, and the commission recommended that the officers be prosecuted. In another memorandum, prominent church leaders charged that police helped stir up the recent black rampages in the townships around Johannesburg that left more than 500 people dead.

Despite De Klerk's pledge to build a "new South Africa," at least some elements of his police force continue to behave as they did in the bad old days. Whether they are acting on their own or under orders, De Klerk faces a difficult challenge: to restrain the police or risk derailment of the country's delicate political transformation by the security forces.

De Klerk maintains publicly that the police force is basically sound. But he indicated that he would consider proposals by religious leaders to appoint monitors to observe police behavior, and eventually create a new force to deal with unrest.

Some human-rights activists think recent police actions point to a power struggle within the government pitting reformers like De Klerk against right- wing securocrats. The activists do not believe De Klerk is directing police troublemaking, since the violence undercuts his reform efforts. Besides, the security forces are filled with supporters of the right-wing Conservative Party, which is intent on scuttling De Klerk's dealings with the blacks.

De Klerk may find it impossible to undertake a major clampdown on his security forces soon. If he did so while the threat of black violence remained, he would weaken police morale and send more wary whites into the right-wing camp. But how De Klerk ultimately handles the matter will help determine how peacefully -- or violently -- political change will occur.