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06 March 2020 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Stephen Collett
Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank
Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, presented a public lecture at the UFS on 4 March 2020.
With a 7% fiscal deficit on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projected by the National Treasury for the 2020/21 financial year, it would not take long to arrive at a dangerous level of debt at the rate that South Africa is borrowing. Although the South African Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, does not consider a debt to GDP rate of 60% a disaster, he did express his concern regarding the country’s fiscal deficits being over 6% of the GDP.

Governor Kganyago presented a public lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) on 4 March 2020, focusing on how we should use macro-economic policy and its role in our economic growth problem.

Unsustainable policies 
South Africa’s fiscal situation is not about tight monetary policy. According to the Governor: “Weak growth is endogenous in our fiscal problems. We cannot keep doing what we are doing and hope that growth will recover and save us. Growth is low, in large part, because of unsustainable policy.”

Avoiding an impending crisis
To address the problem, as a policymaker with more than 20 years’ experience, the Governor suggested that the recommendations made by Minister Tito Mboweni be taken into consideration. “The Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, is a man who says things that are true even when they are unpopular. His message is that we have to reduce spending and he is right to put this at the centre of our macro-economic debate,” said Governor Kganyago.

The state needs a radical economic turnaround strategy which is able to diminish the risk of losing market access and being forced to ask the International Monetary Fund for help. Governor Kganyago is positive that such a reformative tactic would go beyond monetary policy and ensure that the interest bill ceases to claim more of South Africa’s scarce resources. 

Governor Lesetja Kganyago, at a public lecture he presented at the UFS.
Governor Lesetja Kganyago, at a public lecture he presented at the UFS.
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Governor Lesetja Kganyago
Governor Lesetja Kganyago
Prof Phillippe Burger, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Dean of Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Prof Phillippe Burger, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Dean of Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector:Academic
Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector:Academic
From left;Prof Hendri Kroukamp, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Governor Lesetja Kganyago, and Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs
From left;Prof Hendri Kroukamp, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Governor Lesetja Kganyago, and Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs

News Archive

Spring graduation ceremony
2006-09-15

A three-year old boy from Welkom, Kearabetswe Mokoena, stole the show at the spring graduation ceremony of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein. He was dressed in an exact replica of the academic outfit worn by his father, Mr Ketseletso Mokoena, who obtained his LLB degree from the UFS. The outfit was made by Kearabetswe’s mother Mrs Ennie Mokoena. From the left are Mr Mokoena, his son Kearabetswe, and Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.
Photo:  Lacea Loader

 

Prof Mos Thulare (acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Technology) obtained his LL.B. degree during the spring graduation ceremony of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.  On the photo, he is congratulated by Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).
Photo:  Stephen Collett

 

Altogether five master's degrees in Physics were awarded during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein.  It is the biggest group of master's degrees in the history of the UFS Department of Physics awarded during a graduation ceremony.  From the left are:  Richard Harris, Puleng Ramoshebi, Prof Hendrik Swart (Head of the UFS Department of Physics), Lisa Coetsee and Etienne Wurth.  One of the students, Gerhard Olivier, was absent when the photo was taken.
Photo: Lacea Loader
 

Altogether 29 doctorates were awarded during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein.  Some of the doctorandi are from the left:  Drs Nicholas Mtshali (Chemistry),  Candice Jansen van Rensburg (Zoology), Ina Claassens (Physics),  Martin Ntwaeaborwa (Physics) and Vicki Tolmay (Plant Breeding).
Photo:  Lacea Loader
 

A great number of students from Africa were among the 29 students who received their doctorates during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony in Bloemfontein.  From the left are:   Drs Amaha Kassahun (Grassland Science) and Tolessa Debele (Soil Science), both are from Ethiopia.
 

A number of doctorates were awarded to students across the world during the University of the Free State's (UFS) spring graduation ceremony held in Bloemfontein.  From the left are:  Drs Eli Kohn (from  Israel who received a doctorate in Near Eastern Studies), Prof Philip Nel (UFS Department of Afro-asiatic.  Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice), Prof Annette Wilkinson (Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development at the UFS) and Dr Padmanabhan Nair (from India who received a doctorate in Higher Education Studies).  Prof Nel was Dr Kohn's co-promoter and Prof Wilkinson was Dr Nair's promoter.
Photo:  Stephen Collett

 

 

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