President Paul Kruger’s informal talks on his stoep in Pretoria started at about 07:00, with the first pipe of the day; the old man sitting in an upright armchair and a cup of coffee for all present, wrote William Hills.
“As far as I could see, anyone could talk to the president at this early hour, including the roughest old farmers who had just dropped in as they walked along from market to give him the news.
“I thought: ‘What a delightful idea!’ No one could ever say he was debarred from trying to get his rights when the head of state was so sympathetic and natural that he could be interviewed, colloquially-speaking in his shirt sleeves (literally-speaking, Oom Paul always wore a coat, varying in comfort as the day progressed).”
At the time, Kruger was involved in a tussle with Chief Justice Sir John Gilbert Kotzé KC, who had stood against him in the presidential election of 1893, over a mining rights case in which he found broadly that the courts had the right to declare government legislation invalid. Kruger waited until after the 1898 election to dismiss Kotzé and the rest of the High Court Bench.
The aggrieved parties later sought an audience with the president about the independence of the judiciary.
Dressed in their best clothes for the formal occasion, everyone involved trooped into a reception room in the presidency for some “straight talking” when a small brown head emerged from the flock of trouser legs.
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“It was Jubilee who had evaded the sentry and come in behind the deputation.
“Hidden in the background, I trusted that the dog’s presence at so august a gathering would not be noticed, and that he would show a becoming respect for this gathering of elders of the state.
“Alas for my hopes, Jubilee felt he had a national role to perform.
“Disdaining all the judges and the members of the presidential council, he boldly advanced to the centre of the room and decided that President Kruger, seated in an upholstered armchair with a small expanse of carpet in front of him, was the only man worthy of his attention.
“Standing on his hind legs, he gently placed his forefeet on the president’s knee and looked up into his face with an appealing expression.”
It was matter of history that the judiciary did not come off second best. “… Could it have been Jubilee’s mute appeal which had anything to do with the result?” asked Hills.
“When I left the presidency with the dog at my heels, my chief reflection was: ‘What a mercy Diamond did not accompany his brother as he usually does’.”
(Story: Carol Stier).
Next time: Kruger’s one concession to pomp and ceremony
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