In the end, a scholar and a gentleman . . .

Now that I have had an opportunity to familiarise myself with the provisions of our Constitution that deal with the removal of the President and related matters, I appreciate even more the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. In his own words, he chose to abide by the decision of the ANC as a member of the ANC.

A quick look at the provisions of the Constitution show that had he decided not to co-operate with his colleagues in the ANC, it would have taken some work on the part of those that chose to remove him from office to get it done. With only six months to go for his term to come to an end, he could arguably have stayed in office until the next election. That would have in my humble opinion, had terrible consequences for our country.

Be that as it may, he did the honourable thing for which I will always remember him with respect. Whether he should have been asked to leave, is of course a different matter; but that he can be asked to leave, is a matter to be appreciated. Our brand of democracy is one that places the group above the individual; it is one that we all were at some point madly in love with. Before we get all despondent and judgemental as only us South Africans can be, let us take a collective moment to appreciate that our democracy (warts and all) works. Let us appreciate more the fact that Thabo Mbeki, when called on to do so, put us and the country first. Most of all, let us take a collective moment and recall that proportional representation was intended to preven "winner takes all" and to protect minorities, to wit white people. It is party uber all, except of course where floor crossing is concerned and that is a matter for another blog.

As for the various socio-political commentators; has anything changed in the last two months or so. Unless, I am mistaken, there seems to have been a general consensus that Thabo Mbeki should go. The general consensus held that he was not good for South Africa for a million and one reasons, chief of which was that his quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe was not working, etc. To now suggest that the re-call of Thabo Mbeki by his organisation is a crisis or will plunge the country into crisis is with respect disingenious. Stha reminds me that the British Labour party unceremoniously booted out Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is barely hanging on. I believe the minister of transport over there has resigned and with no offer of assistance to the new guy.

Like many South Africans (I hope) I was infatuated by an intellectual "Afrika first" president. I was excited that the Mandela honeymoon was coming to a close and things will meaningfully change for black people in South Africa. I was like many others to be disappointed repeatedly by some of the decisions and actions of the President I have come to idolise. He has taken a lot of criticisms and has been called various names, dictator being one of them. Rajeni can and has with scorn and contempt set out the failures of this man. Marc on the other hand has set out the triumphs and talents of this tragic man. Rajeni maintains the "Friends of Jacob Zuma" website. Marc is the author "A dream Deferred".

The achievements of Thabo Mbeki like his failures speak for themselves but in the end, he remains a scholar and a gentleman.

There will be shouting, there will be accusations, there will be frustration . . .

. . . and then, there will be blood. This is generally how it goes, at least in my limited experience of our world; and no, this is not the stuff of Afrika only, it is the world order as we know it. So the last few weeks I went out to find good news, good writing, good humour - hell anything good.

It is in this search that I stumbled on Mr Harber's (he of the Weekly Mail fame) thought-provoking piece on the Sunday Times. The piece is by no means a revelation neither is it anything new to most followers of the news (as presented by the South African media). It is however written by one of the better and more respected social commentators. The fact that he is a white, better and more respected of our social commentators also helps.

What he wrote is something several others, including yours truly (but as previously typed: no one gives doughnut what yours truly says) have stated albeit in different ways. That piece to me boils down to simple common decency; the stuff grand-mothers used to teach grand-children back in the day. I concede, it is presumptous of me I guess to assert that in this our rainbow-no-black-or-white nation, there could be some common teaching dispensed by grand-mothers. This could be sexist and ageist too. But, dear reader, you will do well to remember that this is the hunt of all things good. Back to the grand-mothers; mine and those of her ilk taught me and those of my ilk (ok, most of them) that "lefoko ga le boe, go boa monwana". The language is Setswana, the direct crude translation is "a word does not come back, it is a finger that comes back". This was ordinarily said when one is talking about another in their absence or behind their back; and generally saying not so nice things - but generally when making a statement about another. You see, when you point a finger, you can withdraw the finger but when you say something, you cannot take it back, it is out there and if it is bad news, it will spread like wild fire. So, if common decency be the thing that guides editorial decisions at the Sunday Times, the reporting standard quickly jumps out of the gutter. Of course editorial courage, free press and all those good things must come with it too. The good news is, some wise white guy said it and something will surely happen.

Then there were the news that the springbok coach wants to resign and "give the job back to the whites". This was of course good news of a different kind. The kind that one says very little indeed. In a similar vein were the news that Bafana-Bafana would play agains Nigeria at a stadium, on a pitch that were not acceptable for a PSL game. All good news wouldn't you say?

As theses and similar stories unfold, there will be shouting and accusations; sometimes there may even be blood. In the meantime, I will be looking for good news.