its capacity to handle future economic and financial crises continues to be debated. page 3 of 7 south africa and the south african reserve bank ( sarb ) have continued to be active participants in international efforts to promote constructive dialogue as we seek global solutions to global challenges. as part of this work, we interact with many of the countries that you represent, be it as a member of the imf, the g20 2, brics 3, the southern african development community ( sadc ), the association of african central banks, and various standard - setting bodies and regulatory forums. the initiatives that the sarb has been involved in since we last met include the following : • there have been ongoing discussions about providing adequate resources to ensure that the imf can fulfil its role at the centre of the gfsn. • enhancing the effectiveness of the brics contingency reserve arrangement ( cra ) has also remained top of the agenda. the cra is a self - managed contingent reserves arrangement instituted to forestall short - term balance of payments pressures, provide mutual support, and further strengthen financial stability. • another priority has been strengthening the macroeconomic research capability to support the cra. • in the region, the sadc real time gross settlement system 4 has continued to gain momentum. between july 2013 and february 2019, more than 1 million transactions were settled on the platform, representing a value of r5. 5 trillion. • in addition, we have successfully collaborated with the european central bank, the bank of england and the bundesbank to develop certain skills of sarb staff members and to share and transfer knowledge in areas related to the sarb ’ s domestic and regional work. 2 group of twenty ( finance ministers and central bank governors ) 3 brazil, russia, india, china, south africa 4 previously known as the sadc integrated regional electronic settlement system ( siress ) page 4 of 7 the independence of central banks and the south african reserve bank ’ s role in the south african economy another topic that has been prominent over the past two years or so, and which seems to be gaining momentum, relates to central bank independence. in the words of kenneth rogoff, ‘ with the global rise of populism and autocracy, central bank independence is under threat ’. 5 this applies to many countries, developing and advanced, including south africa. south africa ’ s disappointing economic performance over the past 10 years has contributed to growing calls for the expansion of the mandate of the

that level. on the producer front, the process of consolidation amongst mining companies has continued, though not all of them, as recent events have shown, entirely in harmony. de - hedging has also continued. that process - in either direction - is of course a perfectly normal commercial activity, but i strongly advise you to find a better term than “ de - hedging ’, because friends of the countryside - never very well disposed to mining operations - might be inclined to take ‘ de - hedging ’ as an environmentally - unfriendly activity designed to flatten the landscape. it has, of course, had much that effect on leasing rates. i assume that is why much is written these days about the contango - which, again, the uninitiated might be forgiven for supposing was the gold market ’ s distinctive contribution to resolving the argentinian debt crisis. before leaving the past year, i want to recognize one other notable personal contribution to the standing of gold - kelly holmes ’ outstanding achievement in winning two of the most thrilling olympic gold medals any of us can ever wish to see. i mention this particularly because it gave rise to my own personal golden moment of the past year. as you may know, kelly holmes trains in south africa, and, by chance, my wife and i found ourselves alongside her at the security check at johannesburg airport a few weeks ago. she was carrying her gold medals, and so had to produce them for inspection. while we were admiring them, we were interrupted by the public announcement that our flight was ready for boarding and we were warned that it would take 15 minutes to get to the gate, whereupon i found myself, to my horror, saying “ well, if we stick with kelly, it should take us only 47 seconds ” - a remark so crass that my wife quite rightly refused to speak to me for most of the rest of the flight. with these and other challenges, or in my case bloopers, behind us, what now are the prospects looking forward? here, i think the prospects for the gold market can best be described in much the words that tended to be used in my own personal career performance assessments by my superiors over the years : in the medium term, the fundamentals look quite promising, but in the short run, performance has been erratic and the outlook is uncertain. if one looks at the fundamentals, i think a good reason for being positive about the medium term - and