World Notes SOUTH AFRICA

In white-ruled South Africa, progress toward racial equality is measured in tiny and often tentative steps. By that standard, State President P.W. Botha made a bold move last week when he outlined a plan for giving the black majority a modest voice in the government. Botha said he favored limited black participation in the Electoral College, which chooses the country's President every five years, and even hinted that blacks might eventually be appointed to his Cabinet.

The moves seem aimed at wooing white moderates to the ruling National Party, which has steadily lost voters to the ultraright Conservative Party. Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu dismissed Botha's proposals as "slight adjustments to the evil system" of apartheid.