South Africa Equality at Water's Edge

South Africa's relatively few remaining segregated beaches are among the targets of the three-month-old "defiance campaign" being waged by black activists. But when State President F.W. de Klerk last week called on municipalities throughout the country to integrate their beaches, it was less a response to those protests than another move to make good his election promise of change.

De Klerk also called for chucking the Separate Amenities Act, a pillar of apartheid since 1953 that has given local authorities the power to keep blacks out of selected parks, libraries, swimming pools and other public facilities. He is given a strong chance of winning repeal of the law when Parliament reconvenes next Feb. 2. De Klerk's moves were in keeping with his gradualist approach to reducing racial discrimination. He made no mention of changing laws that maintain segregation in most schools and housing.