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The new deputy minister of Police, Ms. Maggie Sotyu, is creating racial tension and is polarizing relations in South Africa with her irresponsible comments that courts give whites lighter punishments than black people. She made the statement yesterday (10 November) following a report of the parliamentary committee on Police. Ms. Sotyu added that the South African judicial system is racist and should therefore immediately be transformed further.

The new deputy minister will quickly learn that generalizations are always wrong. She makes no contribution to the debates and relations in South Africa by attempting to hold up one single example as if it happens continuously. She has to especially be cautious not to become part of the generalizations against farmers and target them. As new deputy minister she will still have a lot to do with farm murders and the cruelty of farm murders, which take place easier in such a polarized climate.

Judge Hlope's judgment in the Marthinus Esterhuizen case in Beaufort West, where he in an emotional manner referred to the accused that "he has no soul ... and has to go and rot in jail" could easily be generalized to the other side in the same manner. The same goes for the decision of the magistrate in Ventersdorp to grant bail to the accused in the Eugene Terre'Blanche murder case, while all the facts, such as that he is a Zimbabwean with definite possibilities to flee, had been ignored.

To incite people racially in South Africa is no art. Of leaders such as in Ms. Sotyu's position, it is expected that they would put their case in a responsible manner.