Reagan ‘Careless,’ Didn’t Mean S. Africa Has Ended Segregation

President Reagan said today he is sorry he “carelessly gave the impression” that racial segregation had been eliminated in South Africa, and that he never intended to say that in a radio interview last month.

During an impromptu question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House, Reagan said, “I didn’t intend to say that” during a telephone interview from his California ranch.

“I’m sorry that I carelessly gave the impression that I believed (segregation) had been eliminated,” the President said. “There are areas where it hasn’t.”

Defends His Remarks

But the President also defended his remarks, saying: “I was not nearly as ill-informed as many of you have made it out that I was. I may have been careless with my language in that one thing, but I was talking about improvements that actually do exist there and have been made.

“But, as I say, I know that segregation has not been eliminated totally in some areas and there’s been no improvement.”

In a telephone interview during his August vacation, Reagan told WSB Radio in Atlanta that South Africans “have eliminated the segregation that we once had in our own country--the type of thing where hotels and restaurants and places of entertainment and so forth were segregated--that has all been eliminated.”

His comments touched off a furor in the United States and elsewhere among opponents of the South African government, which is controlled by the nation’s white minority.

Constructive Engagement

Reagan continued today to defend his Administration’s policy of constructive engagement in dealing with the South African government. He credited the policy of working with the Pretoria regime as “the only thing that’s shown any signs of improvement in that whole situation as yet.”

Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes said the President is likely to decide in the next several days on possible steps to encourage an end to violence and promote negotiations aimed at ending apartheid in the racially torn nation.

On the subject of international trade, Reagan said he has not yet decided on what trade actions to take to open more foreign markets to U.S. products.

“These things are under discussion. As quickly as we have something to report, we will,” Reagan said.

Earlier, Administration officials said Reagan was preparing to initiate unfair-trading cases designed to aid selected import-battered U.S. industries. However Speakes said today that the President still had not finished consultations with his advisers on the subject.

Responding to a question about his health, Reagan, who underwent major surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his intestine July 13, said he feels fine.

“My biggest problem is with the doctors still trying to shorten down the (horseback) riding time,” he said.