During our stay in New York, my wife, Linda, and I considered taking our two grandchildren, Gabriela, 9, and Gideon, 8, to see Finding Neverland on Broadway. Finding Neverland is a musical based on the story behind JM Barrie's legendary novel Peter Pan.Even though the show had been running for some time the only tickets available on the various booking sites were $150 each, two-and-a-half times the face value. As much as I care for my grandchildren, R9000 for an evening at the theatre struck me as a tad excessive.Other popular shows, such as Hamilton, Fiddler on the Roof and a refreshing new comedy Dry Powder - a play about a start-up private equity firm starring Homeland's Claire Danes and The Office's John Krasinski - are sold out months in advance.Random tickets that appear occasionally change at ridiculous prices. Hamilton tickets were trading at upwards of $500 and benefit tickets for Dry Powder for the end of April cost between $750 and $1000.Yet, even at these inflated prices, there was no shortage of takers. So, while I withdrew grudgingly from the theatre market, I was tormented by the existence of literally thousands of New Yorkers, visitors from out of town and tourists from around the world who were unfazed by the extravagant costs and happy to pick up whatever came on offer.Attending a show or two on Broadway was always a highlight of our New York visits but finally the impoverishment of the rand hurt and took its toll on our spending. Sadly, I cannot see the situation improving markedly in the short to medium terms. The rand has improved from its worst levels of a few months ago but is still more than 20% down on its value a year ago. Over 10 years, our currency has depreciated by around 9% a year.Its recent recovery has been driven chiefly by a dip in the dollar, which lost some ground because of the US Federal Reserve's moderating position on the possibility of interest rate hikes.Even in the face of the recent news, the rand's decline has little to do with the leadership of President Jacob Zuma and more to do with the governance of the executive that appointed him; an executive that has allowed infrastructure to decay, fallen short on delivering essential services, tolerated corruption at the highest levels, rewarded loyalty over competency and favoured self-enrichment above the wellbeing of the electorate. It is an executive that will remain in charge even if the president bows to pressure and quits.Admittedly, slow global growth and falling commodity prices have intensified the nation's troubles, but, regardless, without a complete rethink of our political and economic imperatives, the chances of our competing gainfully in the global marketplace are slim.Until then savers will continue to safeguard their capital by investing in foreign securities and the private sector will hedge its bets by steadily expanding its operations into hard-currency regions.For the vast majority of the working population, the challenge is more intimidating but not without a solution.In the same way that the country needs to recalibrate its compass to succeed, the workforce will need to readjust its mind-set, beginning with banishing thoughts of entitlement and privilege, and being prepared to work longer hours, increase productivity and, above all, radically improve its skills set...