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.