CNBC Africa, page-9

For the past 2 years I've been telling myself "the darkest hour is right before the dawn". Needless to say, it's been a long friggin' night!!! RES is like a little tugboat on the high seas, forging it's way through a 50m swell but never reaching land, overcoming one giant wave after another with no tangible reward.

I saw my accountant earlier in the week. When he was looking over my Investment portfolio, he gave a telling chuckle following by a solemn look of concern and then asked me why I keep buying and holding shares in RES. I must admit I was stumped. I had nothing. No logical response came to mind. I jokingly told him that I subscribe to the tried and true investment strategy of buy, hold and pray and then we quickly moved on.

I have no problem with PJ, his management style or even his salary for that matter! RES is just another victim of the terrible macroeconomic climate surrounding the coal industry at the moment. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any upside on the immediate horizon.

Now, with regards to our funding predicament. What possible reason could explain why our 'elected' banking syndicate hasn't approved debt funding yet? What has changed since RES was given credit approved offers of finance early last year? Okay, so coal prices continue to deteriorate and Transnet are dragging their heels on rail upgrades, but we've moved the project into the construction phase now by obtaining nearly $200m in funding via Noble loans and the Entitlement Offer. We've added a number of significant major shareholders to the mix and further credence to the projects economic viability. Yet despite our achievements on the ground and in the boardroom, the RES share price has been in steady decline since I can't remember when. All we've had over the past several months are a few uninformative quarterly's, confirmation that the Blumont deal fell through and notification that our earthworks contractor has gone into administration. It's like our Investor Relations department are on a permanent leave of absence.

If I said the idea of selling out hadn't crossed my mind in recent weeks, then I'd be flat out lying. I live by the saying "change won't happen until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of change". Well, my threshold has just about been breached folks. Owning shares in RES is like being trapped in an eternal state of limbo. An economic purgatory! Do I sell out now for a few dollars and 6+ years of regret or continue holding on into an uncertain future? If I do sell out, rest assured the share price will go through the roof...