The notion of blacks and whites living peacefully together has many opponents who froth at the mouth at the slightest mention of co-existence.
The cynics hold steadfastly to the view that the heavens will fall down when blacks and whites can live side by side without friction.
Social cohesion is never given a chance. To blacks, this is seen as a desperate attempt by the lawmakers to get whites to accept that blacks are human too.
Many argue that social cohesion is a one-way street, where blacks want to do their damnedest at toenadering while whites do not reciprocate.
The right-wing lunatic fringe search far and wide, even in the Bible, to find reasons why blacks should stay quietly in their corner and not seek to mix with whites.
But despite this myopia, there are many places in South Africa where the myth of separate development is shattered continuously.
Today we have a story on the humble shackland people of Munsieville, a black township west of Joburg. Here black and white people virtually eat out of the same bowl. And it’s not just in Munsieville that there’s a glimmer of hope.
Many other communities are overcoming racial stereotypes and embracing each other. There are people in townships, informal settlements and far-flung villages who have learnt to look at others beyond the racial divide, but whose stories have not been told. And none of them have caught a life-threatening disease from living together in peace.