claims to speak on behalf of all shareholders, and his consistent communication of all issues raised with the bank to a wide range of media, we feel it is necessary to put the record straight. mr michael duerr has been a shareholder in the bank since about march 2006. mr duerr is a shareholder who does not normally reside in south africa, and is therefore subject to the legal provisions applicable to shareholders who are not ordinarily resident in south africa. in the main, the legal implication is that mr duerr ( as is the case with all other non - resident shareholders ) cannot vote at any general meeting of shareholders of the bank. non - resident shareholders, of whatever nationality, even if south african nationals, have not been permitted to vote virtually since the inception of the bank, and this is clearly spelt out in the sarb act. mr duerr should have been aware of this and other limitations on shareholders at the time he bought the bank ’ s shares. however, mr duerr refuses to accept that the sarb act lawfully prohibits persons who do not ordinarily reside in south africa from voting, and he has raised issues with regard to the enforceability of this measure with the bank on numerous occasions. bis central bankers ’ speeches we have spent literally hundreds of management hours responding to often spurious, slanderous and sometimes downright bizarre interventions by mr duerr. the bank ’ s legal counsel and his team have spent some 385 hours since the middle of last year just responding to his queries. we have received more than 60 e - mails and other correspondence, running to more than 160 pages. apart from the tone, language, unfounded allegations and abuse contained in this correspondence, there have been no less than 61 demands, often stipulating responses expected within hours. by any standards, this is not in the interest of good governance or efficient or effective operations. we have reflected the hours spent by the legal counsel, but the interaction also takes up the time of the governors, the secretary of the bank and the head of strategy and communications. we can only conclude that harassment appears to be the actual intention, which is most unfortunate and hardly a good reflection on mr duerr, who claims that in these actions he is the “ caretaker shareholder ” acting for all shareholders. in this way he ostensibly abrogates to himself powers that can never be his, and seeks in the process to disempower the vast majority of shareholders by evidently suggesting that he speaks

set out in king iii, in more detail. as discussed at the 2010 ( ogm ), the bank has conducted a bankwide gap analysis, and steps are being taken to address those areas we regard as having room for improvement. it is necessary to emphasise that king iii is a voluntary code, and a tool for enhancing governance, which is the approach the bank has taken. question 8 – definition of corporate body a request has been made to set out clearly the definition and status of the bank with regard to profitability. the sarb act clearly stipulates that the bank is a juristic person, with its primary objective being to protect the value of the currency of the republic in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth. there should be no ambiguity about this matter. the bank does not perform its duties with a profit motive. on the contrary, in the exercise of its responsibilities, it may well take actions that are in the national interest but will result in the bank being loss - making. it is the obligation of the bank to act in the best interests of the country, and not in the narrow interests of the profitability of the bank or its shareholders. there are legal limits placed on the rights of the shareholders of the bank – for instance a limit of 10, 000 shares, a fixed dividend, the election of only some of the non - executive board members and no role in the appointment of the governor and deputy governors, among others. amendments to the sarb act the amendments to the sarb act were promulgated in september 2010. in terms of these amendments, membership of the board of the bank was expanded from 14 to 15. the board has also agreed to use as a guideline the nine - year rule contained in king iii for the service periods of board members. as a result, three new non - executive directors will be elected by shareholders at this ogm. there are currently four vacancies for non - executive directors appointed by government. once all these appointments have been made, the board will comprise a significant proportion of new members. while this may raise challenges for bis central bankers ’ speeches continuity, i am confident that the new - look board will continue to maintain effective corporate governance oversight of the bank. other changes to the board have come about as a result of the appointment of mr lesetja kganyago as deputy governor, who assumed office on 16 may 2011. i would like to take this opportunity to welcome him again to the bank