by
Duncan Miller
South
Africa is famous for its gems and minerals, and visitors sometimes imagine they
can pick diamonds off the soles of their shoes. Gold nuggets roll down streams
and platinum can be picked out of some of the oldest rocks on Earth. This is
all fantasy of course. The platinum, gold and diamond mines are so regulated
that throughout their lives most South Africans never see native gold, or
platinum, or an uncut diamond; and possessing them without a permit is a
criminal offe...
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