January 28, 1983

South Africa is seeking to negotiate a ceasefire with Angola as a preliminary step toward settling the tangled issues of independence for South-West Africa and a Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola, Foreign Minister Roelof F. Botha said today. He said a cease-fire would provide an opportunity to ''test the ground'' for this wider settlement. Mr. Botha's account of the negotiations came as a South African envoy, Adriaan Eksteen, was meeting in the Cape Verde Islands with Angolan officials to arrange a second round of ministerial talks. Discussions were held there last month. The first round, the Foreign Minister said, skirted both South Africa's demand for the withdrawal of the estimated 25,000 Cuban troops as a condition for a settlement in South-West Africa and Angola's charges that South Africa supports the Angolan insurgency led by Jonas Savimbi.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said today, after meeting with President Reagan, that ''top priority'' had to be given to bringing about the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon before time ran out on the latest Middle East peace efforts. A senior State Department official told reporters later that Mr. Reagan had told the Egyptian leader in their two hours of talks that he shared his concerns about the slow pace of the @Israeli-Lebanese negotiations. ''President Reagan is very impatient with the lack of progress so far in the Lebanese situation,'' said the official, who refused to be named, ''and he wants to break them loose as soon as possible.'' Framework for a Withdrawal He said that in the Administration's view, ''The key to this is the current negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.'' Once a framework is worked out for Israeli withdrawal, ''then you'll also be able to get Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organization to withdraw in that time frame,'' the senior American official said.

International Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak, said after meeting with President Reagan in Washington that ''top priority'' had to be given to bringing about the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon before time ran out on the latest Middle East peace efforts. A senior State Department official said later that Mr. Reagan told the Egyptian leader that he shared his concerns about the slow pace of the Israeli-Lebanese negotiations. (Page A1, Column 3.) Sofia, Bulgaria, which is known as a restrictive Communist capital that has also gained the reputation of being a focal point of highliving international crime syndicates, has come under intense scrutiny with investigations into reports that it may have been involved in a plot to kill Pope John Paul II. (A1:5.)

Despite months of negotiations on the withdrawal of all foreign armies from Lebanon, it has become clear in recent weeks that the Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces now crowded into this tiny country are all planning on a long stay. Many Lebanese are now realizing that the ordeal that started with the Israeli invasion last June 6 may not end with all of the foreigners going home, but rather with all of them staying. The obvious danger is that the longer the rival armies remain the greater the likelihood that they will come into conflict, either accidentally or intentionally. U.S.-Israeli Incidents Since early this month, Israeli soldiers, who said they were on the trail of ''terrorists,'' have tried to pass through Marine Corps checkpoints of the multinational force in southern Beirut. This has led to some tense confrontations, but nothing more, between gunwielding marines and gun-wielding Israelis.

The New York premiere of a play by David Hare, whose acclaimed ''Plenty'' is now on Broadway, opens tonight at 8 at the SoHo Rep, 19 Mercer Street. Called ''Fanshen,'' it tells the true story of a village caught in the upheavals of the Chinese Revolution. However, it is being done with a multiracial cast to emphasize the play's broader concerns. Mr. Hare has said that ''Fanshen'' is not only about land reform but also about the relationship in any society between leaders and the led. It deals with the difficulties of effecting change, too. The play won high praise when it opened in London in 1975. ''Fanshen,'' which means ''to enter a new world'' and is based on a book by William Hinton, will play Thursdays through Sundays until Feb. 20. Tickets: $8. Reservations: 925-2588.