WORLD : South Africans Cast Crucial Votes

The government held a general election today that measured white attitudes toward apartheid, specifically a proposal by the governing party to share limited power with blacks.

Hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised blacks staged a general strike capping nationwide protests of the parliamentary election. Factories, businesses, schools and transportation services closed down in major cities, where more than 90% of black workers and most students stayed home.

Acting President F. W. de Klerk smiled, shook hands and enjoyed a champagne breakfast at his Pretoria-area polling booth. Officials say the vote is the most crucial since the governing National Party came to power on promises of strict race segregation in 1948.