WEEK EIGHT: 10 November 2015 “Independent Institutions / How to sustain a democracy”

A new democracy may stand or fall based on the capacity, strength and independence of the state institutions which support it.

South Africa’s constitution devotes an entire chapter - Chapter 9 - to the establishment and running of 6 independent state institutions to support democracy - this in addition to the constitutional provisions governing institutions such as the Public Broadcasting Corporation and the Central Bank.

But how do new democracies, on the back of fierce loyalty to and appointments made by a ruling party of liberation and transition, maintain the integrity and independence of the state institutions which support them?

Governor Tito Mboweni was democratic South Africa’s first central bank governor (following Christian Stals, whom President Nelson Mandela kept on from the previous administration until 1999). He previously served as Minister of Labour in President Mandela’s first democratic cabinet.

Governor Mboweni will discuss with us the role of independent state institutions, and of the central bank in particular, in setting monetary policy in support of a constitutional democracy emerging from deep economic and social divisions. 

Guest Speaker: Tito Mboweni – Former South African Reserve Bank Governor. Former Minister of Labour in Nelson Mandela’s first cabinet. International Advisor: Goldman Sachs International.

Room: Faculty Dining Room, HKS

***All study groups are off-the-record and not for media coverage***