Kganyago back at home to show-off the banknotes with his signature
THE South African Reserve Bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, returned to his dusty village, Ga-Maribana in Moletjie on Friday to show off the banknotes with his signature to the locals.
Desmond Boshego
LIMPOPO – THE South African Reserve Bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, returned to his dusty village, Ga-Maribana in Moletjie on Friday to show off the banknotes with his signature to the locals.
Kganyago (49), addressed the villagers, including his 82-year-old father, in a huge white marquee tent filled with people from the Aganang municipality.
“The bank should come closer and closer to the people of this province so that we can also be counted as one of the country’s best provinces,” he said.
He said that when he was in primary school, he would run in the afternoons to buy a fresh bread for breakfast and a tin of fish for dinner at Mokgohloane general trading store, he used to buy bread and atchar during his school breaks. “I completed my gr. 2 under a tree in this village, with only one mathematics teacher. Textbooks were expensive back then and we used to share one textbook, but that couldn’t stop me from attending school,” he said.
One of his primary school teachers, Jerida Makweya, said Kganyago made them very proud. “He was a very good student who was always on time at school with his work always being done. He showed potential from a very young age and I’m glad that he made a success of his life,” said Makweya.
After the gathering, Kganyago went to the Makgohloane general trading store to buy groceries, just like when he was a child. The shop owner Julia Masenya looked so happy when Kganyago entered her shop accompanied by several people. “As residents of Moletjie, we are proud of his hard work. With his success and hard work, our village is now well-known.
We want to continue his legacy by educating our children, giving them the same tools he had,” said Masenya.
Kgoshi Kgabo Moloto III was full of praise for the governor.
“This icon was born and raised here, with no water or tarred roads, where he used to wake up early and walked to attend school. But today all of us honour his hard work and dedication. I urge all the youth to find inspiration in his success and attend school to finish your education, we can no longer use our underpriveledged backgrounds as an excuse for failure, because with ambition and hard work, everything is possible,” said Moloto.
Kganyago was appointed as the South African Reserve Bank governor last year by President Jacob Zuma following Gill Marcus.
