Early in 2012 I wrote this article. Now read this article dated 14 April 2015 by Magnus Heystek, investment strategist of Brenthurst Wealth in South Africa.

The key numbers/phrases in Heystek’s article is “2007″, “20 percent down in real terms”. In my article it is “25 percent in real terms”.

Today I think a 25-percent drop in real terms won’t be the end of the road. I’m not able to say where and when the downtrend will level out. Maybe not at all.

Whoop-whoop. Some more cash on its way to Naspers….check this out and get ready for the next, big move.

What a mess South Africa has become. What a sad, disappointing mess….

That’s all one can say after reading this report (and specifically the comments of the citizens below the story).

For someone sitting outside and looking in, the situation gets doubly sad when I notice how “desensitized” the good people (99% of them are good) have become after so many years of so much crime.

Powerless to change anything, they do the only thing they can in their situation – look the other way…pretend nothing has happened.

I cry for you, my beloved country.

Every country which gives in to the oil company lobby and the promise of cheap energy, is a step closer to a fracked-up Karoo. The latest step in that direction was taken when France turned pro-fracking a few weeks ago. Until then, France strengthened the case of anti-fracking organisations, such as the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (here).

That bulwark’s gone now and we seem to be sliding ever closer to the inevitable.   [Read on]

Water, water everywhere. And every drop to drink.

What a fantastic invention…run it off your solar electricity, and you’re made. Thanks to the creative mind of “Mr. Segway”.

PS. Suddenly, it’s unimportant whether they frack the Karoo, or not…..

(Not really. Just joking.)

As far as I know, the role religion played in the peaceful hand-over of power by the white minority in South Africa to the black majority in 1994 has never been highlighted in the media. Maybe, because the church (as an institution, with its functionaries) was in the bag of the apartheid government. And a story highlighting the positive role religion played would simply have been too contradictory to be credible. [Read on]

The Marikana wage saga in South Africa has a new, very interesting (if not scary) dimension: it seems as if vital background information on Cyril Ramaphosa’s role might have been leaked non-nonchalantly on September 5, in the form of a comment below an article on Politicsweb.co.za (here).

The comment was supposedly written by Arthur MacKay, a guy who calls himself an “analyst of global economic and political issue”. It looks like a rip-off of the mining journalist we all know, called Dave McKay, of Miningmx.com fame.

The comment (copied here) is worth a read. Even though the nagging feeling remains that we’re dealing here with a Marikana insider trying to “piepie” on Ramaphosa’s fire.

Is this South Africa’s version of the Prophet Mohammed film trick?

South Africa is losing the internet race on the continent of Africa, thanks to the SA government’s inability to get fast internet to the masses at reasonable prices.

As I’ve said before, this is not an insignificant failure. The internet can generate lots of growth and jobs for the country. Look for instance at this research by the World Bank. Also read this article of mine on the topic.

In the latest issue of The Economist, probably the best magazine in the world, they wrote about the positive influence of the internet on the Kenyan economy. This is a story worth reading. If only to be reminded again of what South Africa and its people are missing out on.

I placed the complete article in a PDF. Please click here: The Economist. (If you get an error, which is likely, then click again, on repeat, that is.)