We are gathered here this evening to honour some of the most remarkable young people in South Africa.
 
These are young people who have not only had to overcome great personal challenges but have had to contend with the devastating legacy of decades of underdevelopment and neglect.
 
These are young people who have have taken on one of the most challenging courses of study to enter one of the most rarefied of professions.
 
To succeed, as these graduates have, requires not only a keen intelligence and consistent application.
 
It also requires courage. It requires self-belief. It requires character.
 
When we look at you, we see not only the actuaries of tomorrow – we see the South Africa of tomorrow.
 
We see a South Africa that values knowledge and learning, mathematics and science.
 
We see a South Africa that values achievement, rewards excellence and strives for brilliance.
 
We see a South Africa of young people determined that the injustices of the past will not determine their prospects for the future.
 
We see a South Africa in which there is no profession, no avenue of study, no area of endeavour that is any longer the preserve of only men, or only whites, or only the well-off.
 
We see a South Africa in which there are equal opportunities for all.
 
In you, we see the future of South Africa.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
When we began this programme 14 years ago, we had high hopes for what it may achieve.
 
But it is fair to say that it has exceeded our most ambitious expectations.
 
For that we applaud the many individuals, companies and organisations that have dedicated resources, time and effort to this programme.
 
We applaud them for not only giving these young people the opportunity to realise their dreams, but for investing in the future of our nation.
 
Yet for everything that this programme has achieved, there is much more we need to do to still realise the vision we have set ourselves.
 
Actuarial science is an integral and indispensable part of the development of any nation.
 
Nations thrive to the extent that they are able to understand, predict and create certainty about their economic environment.
 
In a developing country such as ours, having accurate, reliable and detailed insight about our possible futures is crucial to the achievement of our developmental goals.
 
The skills you possess and the methods you employ enable us, as partners in development, to plan and manage our economic trajectory with a semblance of confidence and certainty.
 
Your work is at the centre of our financial ecosystem.
 
It is critical to its performance, its sustainability and ultimately its survival.
 
It informs how we deploy our resources, how we manage risk and how we prepare for the future.
 
The success of this programme demonstrates that there is a great deal of hidden talent among the youth of this country.
 
It demonstrates that we have not even begun to realise our country’s latent potential in the fields of mathematics and science.
 
Untapping this resource must become a national obsession.
 
We cannot think and plan without numbers.
 
We cannot make sense of our present without statistics and we cannot plan for the future without actuarial modelling.
 
It is for these reasons that we must, working together, do everything to improve our investment in education.
 
We must, in particular, increase the number of black and women students entering these fields of study.
 
This is not only a transformation imperative.
 
It is also an economic imperative.
 
It unlocks latent talent and promotes diversity and innovation.
 
We have to ensure that professions in maths and science are accessible, affordable and inclusive.
 
We need to complement financial support with academic, social and moral support.
 
In this endeavour, there is a role for everyone – government, business, universities, academic, students and alumni.
 
As beneficiaries of this programme, you have the most important role to play, being generous with your talent and your time, and giving to the next generation what was given to you.
 
We have already seen many of the alumni ready to fundraise, mentor and tutor.
 
As we intensify our efforts to achieve inclusive growth, as we work to transform the economy, we look to young people with your knowledge, skills and social consciousness.
 
We look to people like you to assist in the design of the National Health Insurance, the national minimum wage and comprehensive social security.
 
Around the world, your profession is changing and your capabilities are no longer seen only as merely an insurance function.
 
There is a greater appreciation of the value that actuaries can bring to the development of public policy and the function of national planning.
 
There is a greater appreciation of the importance of statistics, modelling and risk analysis.
 
There is a greater appreciation of the role that each of you has to play in transforming our economy and our society.
 
You cannot be bystanders.
 
You must help us design the interventions necessary to narrow the inequality gap and distribute resources more equally.
 
You must help us change the structure, ownership patterns and control of our economy.
 
You must help us empower those who remain disenfranchised by exclusionary policies.
 
You must be a central part of the effort to build a South Africa in which all may realise their potential.
 
Because in you, we see the future of South Africa.
 
I thank you.