very facilities they need for their studies. what has happened to us? it seems as if we have perverted our freedom, our rights into licence, into being irresponsible. rights go hand in hand with responsibility, with dignity, with respect for oneself and for the other. ” 3 we can pose exactly the same questions today when the bus rapid transit system, a bold attempt to improve public transport, leads commuters in johannesburg being inconvenienced by a stayaway from some in the taxi industry hell - bent on holding the country to ransom whenever they are not having it their way and perceive a threat to shrink their market share. they will even go to the extent of firing live bullets at buses ferrying commuters. we are witnessing social ills that are partly rooted in our history as well as in unintended consequences of policy interventions during the post - apartheid period. health professionals abandon the sick in dire need of medical attention. teachers abandon learners in favour of this it the other demand, usually very close to exams. shopping at malls has become risking life and limb as marauding mobs, armed and ready to shoot to kill, strike brazenly and with such frequency. striking municipal workers still trash our cities. soldiers – those entrusted with the defence of the country and the constitutional order – disobey a court order and run riot near the union buildings, some of them armed. the scenes – the resultant mayhem and police firing at soldiers – would make responsible citizens to be very afraid and exclaim : “ oh, beloved country, what would steve biko have said about all those developments? ” economic growth having been willing to give everything for the ideal of a democratic society, steve biko would have observed the progress of the country since democracy was introduced in 1994 with the greatest interest. in fact, he would have done more than that : he would certainly have been leading rather than observing, shaping events rather than being shaped by them. in reviewing the past 15 years in the south african economy, and with the wisdom acquired over the years, he might have chosen to draw up a balance sheet of assets and liabilities, the positives and the negatives encountered over this period. one of the highlights of the performance of the country has been the unprecedented levels of economic growth attained since the turn of the century. calculated at constant 2000 prices, real gross domestic product per capita rose by more than 28 per cent, from r20 214 in 1994 to r25 897

importance here will be the absolute fully dedicated focus on education and skills development in south africa for a higher growth path. although employment creation is still at low levels, it is nonetheless encouraging to see that there has been a pick up in the numbers of people employed. according to the latest official data available in march 2004, total employment in south africa was 11 984 million, which was a marked improvement from the total of 11 652 million in september 2003. the number of unemployed people remains high in south africa despite this improvement. according to stats sa, the total unemployed was 4 611 million in march 2004 as compared to the 4 627 million in september 2003. so a lot of work still lies ahead as far as employment creation is concerned. but it is encouraging that the number of people unemployed is coming down. as we have indicated in the past, south africa introduced inflation targeting in the year 2000. the inflation target was specified as the consumer price index less mortgage cost, the co - called cpix. the numeral target was for cpix to remain on average between 6 and 3 percent. now, there has been a little change to specify that the target must be met on a twelve - month continuous basis. we are happy here at the central bank to report to you this evening that since september 2003, we have been inside the target range. this achievement has also begun to influence inflation expectations in a positive way. the expectations of business, trade unions and households are now well within the target levels. this is important for inflation outcomes going forward. in an inflation targeting monetary policy framework, it is important that we are committed to the inflation target and not target any other intermediate variable. so whilst variables such as the exchange rate, monetary aggregates, unit labour cost and oil prices play an important part in the inflation process, these should not become intermediate targets but must however be watched carefully and systematically by the central bank. the exchange rate of the rand is determined by the supply and demand developments in the foreign exchange market. the central bank does not target any level of the exchange rate but takes the rate as given by the forex market. due to the importance which attaches to the exchange rate in the inflation process, a competitively priced exchange rate is the preferred outcome for the central bank. we neither prefer a weak rand nor an overvalued exchange rate. we prefer a competitively priced exchange rate. from time to time, exchange rates have a tendency to over - or undersho