You take a break, come back, and nothing’s changed. Well, not quite. Durban is in even bigger economic trouble than it was before, and from defending Eskom’s leadership to batting away ANC Women’s League president and convicted perjurer Bathabile Dlamini, President Cyril Ramaphosa seems finally to have his ANC under control.

But a reminder that big things are still out of control is the release of a paper from the department of mineral resources & energy on new plans to reignite mining exploration, which has all but dried up in SA, a country with some of the greatest mineral deposits on earth. The last actual mine to start here was a zinc operation in the Northern Cape in 2020...