Football And Freedom: This World (BBC2); Grass (BBC2): THE This World documentary followed two South African teenagers as they attempted to take the football fast track to fame and fortune.

But the film was less about soccer than the changing social and political face of the country.

Seth came from the wealthy white suburbs of Johannesburg. Thuso lived in the deprived area of Soweto. Both were 13 at the start and both were gifted footballers.

It was fascinating watching them over five years, both as they developed into teenagers and to see how their soccer ambitions were affected by their differing backgrounds.

Both families were affected by violence. Thuso's father had been murdered in a car hijacking. Thuso had been forced to move with his mother Susan and two sisters to his grandmother's house, where they slept on the kitchen floor. The constant threat of eviction hung over them, as Susan struggled to earn enough money to send her children to private school.

Seth's father became a victim of a car hi-jacking. Susan was attacked by boys with guns, an incident that brought back painful memories of his father's death for Thuso.

Both boys' hopes were boosted by the promise of playing for overseas clubs. Seth won a place with Ajax juniors, breaking his contract and returning home after a month because he didn't like living with his black African team-mates.

His offensive remarks about them betrayed an attitude that the ending of apartheid hasn't changed everything, and that the teenager had much the same attitude to non-whites as his father. Clearly, Seth didn't like soccer becoming what he called "a black sport" because "blacks play a different game to the whites".

Later in the film, he had the courage to admit that leaving Ajax was "one of the dumbest things I could have done".

Thuso's hopes of winning a trial at Leeds came to nothing too. Both returned to playing in the junior sides of various professional clubs. Neither found a team they were happy with.

Seth's background meant his family weren't short of money, while the prospect of Thuso turning professional meant his family would have a new breadwinner and a better life.

That didn't stop him behaving like a typical teenager by the time we caught up with him, aged 17, in August last year. He went out partying the night before a big match, not getting home until seven in the morning. Then he arrived at the match without his football boots.

An end caption informed us that Seth is still waiting for a trial overseas and that Thuso turns pro with a premier league club this year. Given Seth's unsympathetic comments about black footballers, you couldn't help feeling pleased that Thuso was apparently doing better than him.

Justice had been done. Just as it was in new sitcom Grass when Billy Bleach (played by The Fast Show's Simon Day) gave evidence in court after witnessing a gangland killing.

For his own safety, he entered the witness protection programme. He didn't have much of an old life to leave behind. His elderly mother had already gone to Wales with her fancy man. Billy was concerned she was treated properly. "Fish fingers, boxing, Dale Winton - make sure she gets plenty of them," he told her new companion.

Published: 19/01/2004