##nched in sections 224 and 225 of the constitution of the republic of south africa. in carrying out its mandate, the sarb does not bow to any pressure, be it political or from the private sector. the sarb accounts to the people of south africa through parliament. page 2 of 4 shareholding in the sarb is based exclusively on the principles of shared community representation and participation in the governance of the sarb in order to enhance the independence, transparency and accountability of the sarb in the interest of all south africans. the sarb has a total of 2 million ordinary shares and its shareholders are paid a fixed annual dividend of 10 cents per share, as stipulated by the law. sarb shareholders have no say on any policy decisions that the executive management of the sarb takes in implementing the sarb ’ s constitutional mandate. however, sarb shareholders can elect a maximum of seven non - executive directors of the board of the sarb from a list of candidates approved by a panel chaired by the governor of the sarb. these votes are normally exercised at the annual ordinary general meeting ( agm ) of the sarb and each shareholder is limited to 1 vote for every 200 shares held. it just so happens that, earlier this week, the sarb put out a call for the nomination of candidates for election as non - executive directors to the board. i would once again like to encourage all members of the public to nominate candidates who have skills and experience in the mining sector, labour sector and commerce or finance sectors. nominations close on friday, 17 march 2017 and forms are available on the sarb website. sarb shareholders can vote from an approved list of candidates following a rigorous pre - qualification process, including an evaluation of the nominees by a panel. page 3 of 4 sarb shareholders are also required to discuss the annual report and the audit reports of the sarb, appoint its external auditors and approve their remuneration, and consider any special business that may have been placed on the agenda of the agm. in conclusion, let me take this opportunity to once again encourage all south africans to get a share of the sarb today – and in so doing join the sarb in serving the economic well - being of all south africans. thank you. page 4 of 4

or later, we should publish the minutes. what do the other governing council members think about that? when could the minutes be published for the first time? we are discussing this topic intensively. you mentioned that, in its most recent decision, the governing council also responded to the deteriorated credit conditions. what is the reason for the steep rise in capital market rates? one factor is the changing monetary policy in the united states. at the same time, the developments in the money market reveal fears about a withdrawal of the excessive liquidity in the market. after all, banks in the euro area are gradually repaying their funds1 but that is surely a good sign. yes, that indicates a return to normal conditions. on the one hand, banks can find funding more easily because savers and enterprises are again depositing more of their money at banks. on the other hand, the banks are also repaying the loans from the ecb with funds obtained through the deleveraging of their balance sheets – that is the bad news. that in turn restricts their scope for extending credit. ecb president mario draghi described the promise of low interest rates for an extended period of time as “ unprecedented ”. are you not afraid of making it too easy for the euro area governments to postpone reforms? we are aware of the risk that governments might take advantage of our decision in this way. we must find the right balance between monetary policy necessities and the avoidance of adverse incentives. history will tell whether we did so successfully. where is the line that the ecb may not cross? in the end, we focus on our mandate. we must maintain price stability. inflationary risks are currently low. obtained through the three - year ltros. bis central bankers ’ speeches you assume that inflation will remain within the set margins? we have every reason to assume so. and we will do everything to ensure that it stays that way. but with mario draghi ’ s promise to do “ whatever it takes to preserve the euro ”, isn ’ t the ecb giving the completely wrong signals? surely the governments can now just sit back. so far we have successfully tackled acute crisis situations. however, the question is whether we thereby relieved the pressure to implement reforms to such an extent that necessary adjustments in national budgets have not been sufficient. the reform efforts in many places are impressive, even if labour market and product market reforms in some countries leave something to be desired. all in all, reforms are proceeding