TV Notes

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Out of South Africa

On Wednesday night at 10 o'clock, WNYC (Channel 31) will broadcast ''South Africa Now,'' a weekly half-hour series of news and features from South Africa. While this marks the New York debut of the independently produced program, it has been demonstrating for viewers since its premiere in syndication last spring that there is plenty of news coming out of that part of the world despite the severe press restrictions imposed by Pretoria, particularly on television news.

Most of the segments on the program are produced by freelance journalists and photographers. ''South Africa Now'' is then put together at the SoHo headquarters of Globalvision Inc., with help from the Africa Fund, a nonprofit, educational organization, as well as a number of local journalists who donate their time and expertise. ''South Africa Now'' is to monitor political developments in the entire region of southern Africa, as well as present features on such cultural figures as the singer Miriam Makeba and the ethnomusicologist-turned-band leader Johnny Clegg. Talking to Mathias Rust

ABC has secured exclusive rights to an interview with Mathias Rust, the West German aviator who parked his plane in Red Square in May 1987, and served 14 months in prison. The interview is to be taped on Friday in West Germany and transmitted by satellite for broadcast on ''Incredible Sunday'' on Oct. 16 at 7 P.M. In the interview, Mr. Rust is expected to discuss his reasons for flying to Moscow and how he managed to violate airspace one would not expect to be violable, certainly not in a tiny single-engine, propeller-driven airplane. 'Gone With the Wind'

No, Ted Turner did not make a black-and-white version of ''Gone With the Wind.'' He is using a new print, with much of the faded color restored, to start off Turner Network Television, which will be carried on Manhattan Cable TV Channel H, or 21. The film will be shown in two parts, tonight from 8 to 11 and tomorrow night from 8 to 10 on TNT. There will also be a two-and-a-half-hour special, on Wednesday at 8 P.M., on the making of the film. And you can see the entire package - the complete movie and the special - on Sunday, beginning at noon and ending at 7:15 P.M. TNT reports that it has a most impressive start-up base of 17 million households. A New News Magazine

King World Productions, which syndicates such popular entertainment programs as ''The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' ''Jeopardy'' and ''Wheel of Fortune,'' has announced plans to create its own news magazine, ''Inside Edition.'' The company intends to have ''Inside Edition'' ready for syndication by January, when it would be in a position to replace any syndicated shows that are not performing up to snuff. The program is being produced by John Tomlin and Bob Young, who produced ''A Current Affair'' on Fox Television. The Environment On the local news and entertainment front: Channel 4 tonight begins a monthlong series on local environmental issues. The series is reported by Ralph Penza, and will run three times a week during ''News 4 New York'' at 6 P.M. Among the subjects to be covered are ozone, pollution of the ocean, garbage and landfills, and political action on the environment.

Devotees of Channel 2 News will be happy to learn that the anchor Jim Jensen is to return to the 5 P.M. and 6 P.M. broadcasts tonight, after treatment for substance abuse. He is to rejoin the co-anchor Carol Martin. Teen-Ager to the Rescue

For too long, we have been without the services of a teen-age super hero. Channel 9 provides redress, beginning Sunday at 4 P.M. ''My Secret Identity'' will star Jerry O'Connell (of the film ''Stand By Me'') as, gulp, Ultraman, a super hero who is not averse to using his powers on occasion to impress girls. Even Superman did that once in a while.