South Africa

At first glance, President F.W. de Klerk's long-awaited proposals for revamping South Africa's constitution, unveiled last week, look just fine. But on closer scrutiny some major defects appear. The country's blacks would vote for a national government for the first time ever. A bicameral parliament would consist of one chamber elected by proportional representation and a second representing nine newly created regions, with the power to veto legislation. The presidency would become a troika of representatives of the three major parliamentary parties.

The proposals' checks and balances mean that despite universal suffrage, the country's 5 million whites could have as much power in government as its 28.5 million blacks. The plan would also prevent a black majority from electing a single black leader as President. The African National Congress lost no time in rejecting the plan as "a recipe for disaster."