World Notes SOUTH AFRICA

To State President P.W. Botha of South Africa, a big turnout in black townships for the Oct. 26 elections would signal that blacks have accepted his offer of power sharing as an alternative to revolution. So in an effort to get out the black vote, Botha's government has swollen registration lists, declared it illegal to call for a boycott, and banned major black organizations that have opposed the polling.

Foes of apartheid are equally determined to thwart an election they see as hopelessly segregated. Activists have scrawled DON'T VOTE on walls, billboards and traffic signs throughout the black townships. Antiapartheid clergymen and academics have urged blacks to boycott the vote, despite the ban on such appeals. Others have resorted to deadlier tactics: shooting council candidates or fire bombing their cars and damaging meeting halls with mines and hand grenades. Last week, in apparent retaliation, suspected white extremists bombed the headquarters of the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference, which is strongly opposed to apartheid. More violence may be in store before voting day, with the outlawed African National Congress vowing that it will "escalate the armed struggle."