S. African Ambassador in London Quits, May Run for Parliament

South African Ambassador to Britain Denis Worrall resigned Friday, saying he wants to return to his country and “re-enter national public life.”

Although Worrall did not specify his plans, informed speculation here said he intends to leave South Africa’s ruling National Party and run as an independent candidate for Parliament in the whites-only election scheduled for May 6.

Worrall, 51, who took up his post here 2 1/2 years ago, has long been considered one of Pretoria’s most articulate spokesmen in Europe, and his resignation is viewed as a blow to the government of President Pieter W. Botha.

Despite his effectiveness in defending his government, however, sources said that he had made no secret of his disagreement with some of its policies, and in particular with what he considers the slow pace of reform of South Africa’s system of racial separation, or apartheid.

In a statement released by the embassy’s information office, Worrall said, “For some time now, my government has known that it has been my wish to return to South Africa and re-enter national public life. The international experience of the last four years has convinced me more than ever that South Africa has a great future and I would like to make my contribution to its realization.

“In particular,” the statement said, “I believe that this is a time for ‘bridge-builders’ within all communities in South Africa to make themselves heard.”

Worrall, considered part of the “liberal wing” of the National Party, has served in several senior government positions. He was elected to Parliament on Botha’s National Party ticket in 1978, and later served as a government-appointed senator. In 1983, he served as president of the government-named committee that rewrote the South African constitution to provide for a tricameral legislature, with separate chambers for whites, Asians and Coloreds, or people of mixed-race.

Although the new constitution was part of a reform package designed to better the status of blacks, the new parliamentary system provided them with no representation.