EN PASSANT

THE NATIONAL Prayer Day at FNB Stadium in Soweto on November 26 highlights the country’s grave situation. Politicians and leaders have downgraded us and there are no proper controls, no intellectual thinking and no systems in place to improve South Africa’s bleak future.

Prayers are needed. Turning to the Almighty will strengthen us spiritually, and can redirect the country and politicians. Everything is free in South Africa – we have the freedom to rape, murder, be corrupt, steal, pull off a heist, strike, block roads, kidnap, make political blunders and the list goes on. Now we want land and education to be be free too.

Every politician should attend. Rustenburg NEVER allow anger to control your actions because they won’t be the actions you would’ve ordinarily taken. I know a few people behind bars who failed to control their emotions. It is better to learn to control your anger than to be like those who can’t undo what they have done. There are two options: control it or it controls you. Mtititi Lombard LET’S review our commodities and mineral resources behaviour, before, during and after Eskom’s rolling electricity blackouts. Iron ore traded for $205 a ton during April 2008, meaning that the price was affected by Eskom’s rotating load shedding. The price of iron ore dropped to $43.40 a ton in November 2008 (later it dropped further to less than $40 a ton). The highest platinum price was $2 270.50 an ounce in March 2008. In 1972, the price of gold an ounce was $37 and in August 2011, it was $1 900.

Didn’t the price of coal jump from about $55 per metric ton in March 2008 to about $180?

Were the figures manipulated by Eskom as well? Should we blame Eskom or the mining companies? Mining giants are Eskom’s key customers. We shouldn’t forget Cyril Ramaphosa’s Shanduka Group is into mining, especially, platinum, gold, and coal. Sebokeng