What’s magnetic in ZA?

The answer may surprise you. Of course, South Africa is a land of many metallic objects. She is famous for her metals, hewn from the earth by sinewy, hardened muscles. Gold and platinum are two expensive examples. The news daily focuses the attention on the fate of fine ounces of these metals. But neither of them are, alas, magnetic. Neither are diamonds which don’t even have the courtesy of being metallic!

So, what is magnetic in ZA? Many electronic door locks are made of strong electromagnets, but that’s not very different from in the ‘States, now is it? There are a lot of these locks, perhaps more than in the ‘States, but still that’s not interesting.

Here’s a challenge. Take a quarter, dime, penny, or nickel. Any US coin or in fact, even paper bills, and then try to pick them up with a magnet. Use as strong a magnet as you can find within a two mile radius, and chances are you will be sorely disappointed with their intercourse. You may now take a South African coin, if you are fortunate enough to have one. One rand, two rands, 10 cents, five cents, it matters not. Now take your widely sought magnet and just tease the coin with it. What happened? Did it leap at your magnet like an attention-starved puppy? It did? Oh yes of course it did! Because IN SOUTH AFRICA, COINS ARE MAGNETIC! Surprise!

But what else of note is magnetic? Surely, the well of magnetic secrets of ZA has not dried up, has it? The answer is no.

If you would like a refreshing beverage in ZA, you have many options. Glass bottles are available, although these are certainly not magnetic. Plastic bottles and juice boxes are also available, and offer delicious 100% juices, but neither bottle, box, nor juice is magnetic. But what about canned drinks? You may have enjoy a canned beverage, and upon extending you throat upwards for the last precious drops feel somehow as if there must be something more. As you lower the can, it feels as though there is a last swallow of drink hiding somewhere in the can. But there is no such thing. The can itself, is a bit HEAVIER than the typical can in the ‘States. Aha! A clue! What if we apply a MAGNET to the can? KA-CHING! MAGNETIC! Yes, cans in ZA are made of steel, and not aluminum, or even aluminium, as they call it here, and are thus MAGNETIC.

Will ZA reveal more of her magnetic secrets on our next trip? I certainly hope so!