Cleaning Up the Brass

IT WAS A MOST UNSEASONAL ACT. DAYS BEFORE Christmas and with immediate effect, President F.W. De Klerk suspended or retired 23 of South Africa's top officers, including two generals and four brigadiers. All are under suspicion of clandestine activities -- some involving hit-squad murders -- designed to undermine his political reforms. De Klerk dismissed talk of an attempted military coup, saying there was no threat to South Africa's security. But criminal charges could follow next year. "We're not dealing with kids," he said.

All year long, De Klerk's credibility has been battered by charges of dirty dealings within his defense forces. Thus his crackdown on these mavericks has almost certainly scored him some valuable points -- enough, perhaps, that in spite of enduring a year of violence, crime and political stalemate, South Africans are beginning to see hope for l993. "We are closing the year on a high note," Nelson Mandela told the Sowetan, Johannesburg's black newspaper.