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...
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