Lesetja Kganyago: Launch of the SA25 commemorative circulation and collectable coins

Address by Mr Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the launch of the SA25 commemorative circulation and collectable coins, Johannesburg, 5 June 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Honourable Ministers, Justices of the Constitutional Court esteemed guests, fellow South Africans.

It is both a pleasure and a privilege to be here at Constitution Hill on this very special day.

It is indeed an honour for me to be addressing you from the Constitutional Court, a deeply symbolic and significant place in our constitutional democracy. The Constitution, which this Court zealously guards, has been a moral compass guiding all of us on this journey we embarked on 25 years ago. It is only fitting that we are gathered here today to commemorate our robust and youthful democracy.

I am reminded of a quote by former President Thabo Mbeki at the opening of the Court, who then said: "The Court represents the conversion of the negative, hateful energy of colonialism, subjugation and oppression into a positive, hopeful energy for the present and the future; a celebration of the creative potential of our people that has given us an architectural jewel."