speech by governor kganyago on the occasion of the announcement of the winners of the monetary policy committee ( mpc ) schools challenge 17 august 2018 programme director, honourable minister of basic education, ms angie motshekga, deputy governors, heads of department, guest speaker, aisha pandor, colleagues from the south african reserve bank and the department of basic education, parents, representatives from schools, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen i am honoured to be standing here this afternoon as we pay tribute to some of the most outstanding economics learners in the country. the monetary policy committee ( mpc ) schools challenge was launched as a pilot programme in 2012 by the south african reserve bank ( sarb ) in conjunction with the gauteng department of basic education ( dbe ). the challenge is a competition for grade 12 economics learners, which exposes them to how the mpc sets the repurchase ( repo ) rate. it also aims to increase the level of interest in economics as a subject of choice among high school learners, and to encourage learners to pursue a career in economics. the sarb has since expanded the challenge to other provinces, as follows : in 2014, to limpopo province ; in 2015, to the free state province ; in 2016, to mpumalanga province ; and in 2017, to the eastern cape, north west and northern cape provinces. today is a major milestone in the history of the mpc schools challenge. this is the first time that schools from all nine provinces have participated in the challenge. in july 2017, the minister of basic education, ms angie motshekga and i launched the national roll - out of this challenge at a media conference here at the sarb where it was announced that the kwazulu - natal and western cape provinces would be participating in the challenge from 2018, effectively opening the challenge to schools in all nine provinces for the first time. the number of participating schools has since risen from 70 ( seventy ) in 2012 to 813 ( eight hundred and thirteen ) in 2018 – impacting 3 212 ( three thousand two hundred and twelve ) learners. the sarb believes the competition will raise the level of understanding of monetary policy, and contribute directly and indirectly to broad public economic education. the students who participate in the mpc schools challenge will also have a better understanding of the role of the sarb. at the onset, we must commend our school finalists ( in alphabetical order ) : empucu

said? ” at the height of the attacks on foreigners most of us were notable by our silence and inaction. sadly, such indifference, anger, hatred and violence towards foreigners, particularly black africans, still finds expression among many south africans. this is at a time when we seek to accelerate economic integration in the sadc region, with all the lofty ideals of establishing a free trade area by last year ( 2008 ), a customs union by next year ( 2010 ), a common market and a monetary union by, respectively, 2015 and 2016. the ultimate objective of sadc is to build a region in which there will be a high degree of harmonisation and rationalisation to enable the pooling of resources in order to achieve collective selfreliance and improve the living standards of the people of the region. at central bank level, an important milestone has been the completion of the drafting of the proposed sadc central bank model law, which will pave the way for the harmonisation of legal and regulatory frameworks. steve biko observed that the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. indeed, the liberation of the oppressed is not only political, economic and social, but involves psychological liberation as well. can we claim to have liberated our minds when the daily statistics of rape and other forms of violence against women and children leave us questioning the very essence of our humanity? this cannot be what steve biko envisioned when he wrote : “ we have set out on a quest for true humanity, and somewhere on the distant horizon we can see the glittering prize. let us march forth with courage and determination, drawing strength from our common plight and brotherhood. in time we shall be in a position to bestow upon south africa the greatest gift possible – a more human face. ” 2 delivering this lecture three years ago, archbishop emeritus desmond tutu asked : “ what has come over us? perhaps we did not realise just how apartheid has damaged us so that we seem to have lost our sense of right and wrong, so that when we go on strike as is our ibid. right to do, we are not appalled that some of us can chuck people out of moving trains because they did not join the strike, or why is it common practice now to trash, to go on the rampage? striking municipal workers empty trash on the streets, other strikers break shop windows, loot and trash the premises? even our students on strike will often destroy the