gill marcus : inspiring young women to make south africa more inclusive address by ms gill marcus, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the ruth first jeppe high school for girls memorial trust, johannesburg, 29 october 2013. * * * good evening ladies and gentlemen. it is a real honour and a privilege to be asked to speak to you tonight, not just because this event honours an exceptional person, ruth first, but also because this event supports the education and development of young women in our country. there can be no investment more important than to invest in the education of young people. and, given that the odds remain heavily stacked against women from all walks of life in our society, investment in the education of young women makes a real difference to the individual, the family and society as educating the girl child is a sure way to break the cycle of poverty and the skills shortage that is spoken about so often. jeppe high school for girls has a long and proud tradition of delivering education of the highest quality to girls in johannesburg. the excellent track record of the school in maintaining a 100 per cent matric pass rate for 20 years, and ensuring that an incredibly high proportion of young women go on to university, deserves praise and recognition. i wish to congratulate the school, its head mistress and teachers, as well as the school community for this outstanding achievement. public education of the highest standard for all children is critical for democracy to flourish, and was integral to the liberation struggle, as lack of education is the greatest exclusion there can be. i fully support and endorse the establishment of a trust that funds scholarships to support young women from less advantaged backgrounds who show academic potential. tonight i would like to add my voice to those of many others in congratulating the young women who have won scholarships to study at this wonderful educational institution. jeppe girls high, through the ruth first jeppe trust, has set an example of how communities can come together to provide education for all, not just the privileged few. we need many more of these initiatives so that the ugly shadow of our apartheid history is eliminated from the lives and opportunities of our children. let me say a few words about ruth, the inspiration for this initiative and whose life comprised multiple facets. she was an activist, a revolutionary, a woman, a mother, a journalist, a writer and an academic. in addition to these attributes, she espoused and lived a set of values that continue to shape our country

temporary factors, but there is also some indication that both import and export volumes are responding to the depreciation of the rand and the weaker economy. how global headwinds, including china ’ s slowdown may alter this outlook, remains to be seen. as you know, the sarb targets inflation within a flexible framework, which allows for temporary breaches of the target being tolerated under certain circumstances. the inflation forecast has been somewhat erratic, impacted by the combination of a weaker exchange rate on the one, hand and falling oil prices on the other. however, the rand exchange rate remains the one of the biggest upside risks to the inflation outlook. the zar has fluctuated in a range of between r11. 30 and just over r14, 00 against the us dollar since the beginning of the year, depreciating to a historic low of r14. 16 against the us dollar, but more recently we have seen some correction. on a year - to - date basis, the rand is almost 12 per cent weaker against the us dollar. this is in the mid - range of other ems currencies, some of which have depreciated by over 30 per cent ( such as brazilian real ) and others by around 3 per cent ( such as the indian rupee ). the most recent inflation forecasts point to an average inflation rate of 4. 7 per cent in 2015. temporary breaches of the target are expected in the first quarter, and again in the final quarter of 2016. much of this is due to base effects. for 2017, inflation shows a slow downward trend. the sarb monetary policy committee ( mpc ) remains on a gradual normalisation path and is of the view that monetary policy remains accommodative. the mpc has to achieve a fine balance between realising its core objective, and not unduly undermining growth in the shortterm. while we have raised the policy rate in july 2015 by 25 basis points, bringing the cumulative increase in the policy rate since the first upward move in january 2014 to 100 basis points, in real terms monetary policy remains accommodative as pointed out in our recent mpc statement, released in september 2015. the current environment requires policy makers to remain vigilant and to carefully analyse incoming data, and not hesitate to act if the risks of a more persistent breach in the inflation target materialise and inflation expectations become unanchored, thus posing a threat to inflation outcomes