South African Rand - Wikipedia South African Rand This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2011 ) South African rand List 10 other official names : Suid - Afrikaanse rand ( Afrikaans ) iRanti yeSewula Afrika ( Southern Ndebele ) iRanti yoMzantsi Afrika ( Xhosa ) iRandi laseNingizimu Afrika ( Zulu ) liRandi laseNingizimu Afrika ( Swazi ) Ranta ya Afrika - Borwa ( Northern Sotho ) Ranta ya Afrika Borwa ( Sotho ) Ranta ya Aforika Borwa ( Tswana ) Rhandi ya Afrika Dzonga ( Tsonga ) Rannda ya Afurika Tshipembe ( Venda ) ISO 4217 Code ZAR Number 710 Exponent Denominations Superunit 16,500 Krugerrand ( value pegged with 1oz gold ) Subunit 1 / 100 Cent Plural rand Symbol Cent Banknotes R 10, R 20, R 50, R 100, R 200 Coins 10c, 20c, 50c, R 1, R 2, R 5, Krugerrand Demographics Official user ( s ) South Africa Lesotho Namibia Swaziland Unofficial user ( s ) Angola Zambia Zimbabwe Issuance Central bank South African Reserve Bank Website www.resbank.co.za Valuation Inflation 3.6 % ( South Africa only ) Source South African Reserve Bank, November 2010 Method CPI Pegged by Lesotho loti, Swazi lilangeni, and Namibian dollar, all at par Jump up ^ A Common Monetary Area member. Jump up ^ A Common Monetary Area member, used alongside Lesotho loti Jump up ^ A Common Monetary Area member, used alongside Namibian dollar Jump up ^ A Common Monetary Area member, used alongside Swazi lilangeni Jump up ^ Alongside Zimbabwean dollar ( suspended indefinitely from 12 April 2009 ), euro, US dollar, pound sterling, Botswana pula, Indian rupee, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan, and Japanese yen. The US dollar has been adopted as the official currency for all government transactions. The rand ( sign : R ; code : ZAR ) is the currency of South Africa. The Rand is subdivided into 100 cents ( sign : `` c '' ). The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid - Afrikaanse Rand ( South African Rand ). The Rand is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia, although the last three countries do have their own currencies pegged at par with rand. Before 1976, the rand was legal tender in Botswana. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Brief exchange rate history 2.1. 1 1971 -- 2000 2.1. 2 2001 -- 2011 2.1. 3 2012 -- present 3 Coins 4 Banknotes 4.1 First series 4.2 Second series 4.3 Third series 4.4 Fourth series 4.5 Fifth series 4.6 Sixth series 4.7 Seventh series 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Etymology The Rand takes its name from the WitwatersRand ( `` white waters ' ridge '' in English ), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa 's gold deposits were found. History The Rand was introduced in the - then Union of South Africa on 14 February 1961, three months before the Republic of South Africa was established. A Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider a move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings, and pence, submitting its recommendation on 8 August 1958. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 Rand to 1 pound, or 10 shillings to the Rand. The government introduced a mascot, Decimal Dan, `` the Rand - cent man '' ( known in Afrikaans as Daan Desimaal ). This was accompanied by a radio jingle, to inform the public about the new currency. Brief exchange rate history 1971 -- 2000 Value of the South African Rand to the United States dollar from 1975 - 2015 by the blue columns : The percentage rate of change year - on - year is shown by the black line. One Rand was worth US $ 1.40 from the time of its inception in 1961 until late - 1971. Its value thereafter fluctuated as various exchange rate dispensations were implemented by the South African authorities. By the early - 1980s, high inflation and mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country due to international opposition to the apartheid system started to erode its value. The currency broke above parity with the dollar for the first time in March 1982, and continued to trade between R 1 and R 1.30 to the dollar until June 1984, when depreciation of the currency gained momentum. By February 1985, it was trading over R 2 per dollar, and in July that year, all foreign exchange trading was suspended for three days to try to stop the depreciation. By the time that State President P.W. Botha made his Rubicon speech on 15 August 1985, it had weakened to R 2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat between 1986 -- 88, trading near the R 2 level most of the time and even breaking beneath it sporadically. The recovery was short - lived, however, and by the end of 1989, the Rand was trading at levels more than R 2.50 per dollar. As it became clear in the early - 1990s that the country was destined for Black majority rule and one reform after the other was announced, uncertainty about the future of the country hastened the depreciation until the level of R 3 to the dollar was breached in November 1992. A host of local and international events influenced the currency after that, most notably the 1994 presiential election which had it weaken to over R 3.60 to the dollar, the election of Tito Mboweni as the new governor of the South African Reserve Bank, and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999 which had it quickly slide to over R 6 to the dollar. The controversial land reform programme that was initiated in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, propelled it to its weakest historical level of R 13.84 to the dollar in December 2001. 2001 -- 2011 Two generations of older notes and coins : The notes of the latter of these two generations ( as depicted by the R5 note in this image ) were replaced with the iconic `` Big Five '' notes and these were recently updated to show the face of Nelson Mandela. Banknotes and coins of the South African Rand 's fourth series ( 2005 -- 2012 ) This sudden depreciation in 2001 led to a formal investigation, which in turn led to a dramatic recovery. By the end of 2002, the currency was trading under R 9 to the dollar again, and by the end of 2004 was trading under R 5.70 to the dollar. The currency softened somewhat in 2005, and was trading around R 6.35 to the dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006, however, the currency resumed its rally, and as of 19 January 2006, was trading under R 6 to the dollar again. However, during the second and third quarters of 2006 ( i.e. April through September ), the Rand weakened significantly. In sterling terms, it fell from around 9.5 p to just over 7p, losing some 25 % of its international trade - weighted value in just six months. In late - 2007, the Rand rallied modestly to just over 8p, only to experience a precipitous slide during the first quarter of 2008. This downward slide could be attributed to a range of factors : South Africa 's worsening current account deficit, which widened to a 36 ‐ year high of 7.3 % of gross domestic product ( GDP ) in 2007 ; inflation at a five - year high of just under 9 % ; escalating global risk aversion as investors ' concerns over the spreading impact of the sub-prime crisis grew ; and a general flight to `` safe havens '', away from the perceived risks of emerging markets. The Rand depreciation was exacerbated by the Eskom electricity crisis, which arose from the utility being unable to meet the country 's rapidly growing energy demands. 2012 -- present A stalled mining industry in late - 2012 led to new lows in early - 2013. In late - January 2014, the Rand slid to R11. 25 to the dollar, with analysts attributing the shift to `` word from the US Federal Reserve that it would trim back stimulus spending, which led to a massive sell - off in emerging economies. '' In 2014, South Africa experienced its worst year against the US dollar since 2009, and in March 2015, the Rand traded at its worst since 2002. At the time, Trading Economics released data that the Rand `` averaged R4. 97 to the dollar between 1972 and 2015, reaching an all time high of R12. 45 in December of 2001 and a record low of R0. 67 in June of 1973. '' By the end of 2014, the Rand had weakened to R 15.05 per dollar, partly due to South Africa 's consistent trade account deficit with the rest of the world. From 9 December 2015 to 13 December 2015, over a four - day period, the Rand dropped over 10 % due to what some suspected was President Zuma 's surprise announcement that he would be replacing the then - Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with the little - known David van Rooyen. The rapid drop in value was stemmed when Zuma backtracked and announced that the better - known previous Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, would instead be appointed to the post. Zuma 's surprise sacking of Nene damaged international confidence in the Rand, with it experiencing significant exchange volatility throughout much of January 2016, reaching an all - time low of R 17.9169 to the US dollar on the 9 January 2016 before rebounding to R 16.57 later the same day. The January drop in value was also partly caused by Japanese retail investors cutting their losses in the currency to look for higher - yield investments elsewhere and due to concerns over the impact of the economic slowdown in China, South Africa 's largest export partner. By mid-January, economists were speculating that the Rand could expect to see further volatility for the rest of 2016. By 29 April, it reached its highest performance over the previous five months, exchanging at a rate of 14.16 to the United States dollar. Following the United Kingdom 's vote to leave the European Union ( EU ), the Rand dropped in value over 8 % against the United States dollar on 24 June 2016, the currency 's largest single - day decline since the 2008 economic crash. This was partly due to a general global financial retreat from currencies seen as risky to the US dollar and partly due to concerns over how the UK 's withdrawal from the EU would impact South Africa 's economy and trade relations. In April 2017, a Reuters poll estimated that the Rand would remain relatively stable for the rest of the year, as two polls found that analysts had already factored in a possible downgrade to `` junk '' status. At the time, Moody 's graded South Africa two notches above junk status. When President Jacob Zuma narrowly won a motion of no - confidence in South Africa in August 2017, the Rand continued to slide, dropping 1.7 % that day. In September 2017, Goldman Sachs Group said that the debt and corruption of Eskom Holdings was the biggest risk to South Africa 's economy and exchange rate of the Rand. At the time, it had no permanent CEO, and Colin Coleman of Goldman Sachs in Africa said the company was `` having discussions on solutions '' on finding credible management. In October 2017, the Rand firmed against the US dollar as it recovered from a six - month low. Reuters noted that `` South Africa is highly susceptible to global investor sentiment as the country relies on foreign money to cover it 's large budget and current account deficits. '' On November 13, 2017, the Rand `` tumbled '' over a full percent when the budget chief Michael Sachs stood down from his position in Zuma 's administration. Coins Main article : Coins of the South African rand A 5 - Rand bimetallic coin issued in 2004 Coins were introduced in 1961 in denominations of ​ ⁄, 1, ​ 2 ⁄, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents. In 1965, 2 - cent coins replaced the ​ 2 ⁄ - cent coins. The ​ ⁄ - cent coin was last struck for circulation in 1973. The 2 - Rand coin was introduced in 1989, followed by 5 - Rand coins in 1994. Production of the 1 - and 2 - cent coins was discontinued in 2002, primarily due to inflation having devalued them, but they remain legal tender. Shops normally round the total purchase price of goods to the nearest 10 cents ( in favour of the consumer ). In an effort to curb counterfeiting, a new 5 - Rand coin was released in August 2004. Security features introduced on the coin include a bimetal design ( similar to the € 1 and € 2 coins, the Thai 10 - baht coin, the Philippine ten peso coin, the British £ 2 coin, and the Canadian $2 coin ), a specially serrated security groove along the rim and microlettering. Banknotes The first series of Rand banknotes was introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1 -, 2 -, 10 -, and 20 - Rand, with similar designs and colours to the preceding pound notes to ease the transition. They bore the image of what was believed at the time to be Jan van Riebeeck, the first V.O.C. administrator of Cape Town. It was later discovered that the image was not in fact Van Riebeeck at all, a portrait of Bartholomeus Vermuyden had been mistaken for Van Riebeeck. Like the last pound notes, they were printed in two variants, one with English written first and the other with Afrikaans written first. In 1966, a second series was released with designs which moved away from the previous pound notes. Notes with denominations of 1 -, 5 - and 10 - Rand were produced with predominantly one colour per note. A smaller 1 - Rand note with the same design was introduced in 1973 and a 2 - Rand note was introduced in 1974. The 20 - Rand denomination from the first series was dropped. All notes bore the image of Jan van Riebeeck. The practice of having an English and an Afrikaans version of each note was continued in this series. The 1978 series began with denominations of 2 -, 5 -, 10 - and 20 - Rand, with a 50 - Rand introduced in 1984. This series had only one language variant for each denomination of note. Afrikaans was the first language on the 2 -, 10 -, and 50 - Rand, while English was the first language on the 5 - and 20 - Rand. The 1 - Rand note was replaced by a coin. In the 1990s, the notes were redesigned with images of the Big Five wildlife species. 10 -, 20 - and 50 - Rand notes were introduced in 1992 & 1993, retaining the colour scheme of the previous issue. Coins were introduced for the 2 - and 5 - Rand, replacing the notes of the previous series, mainly because of the severe wear and tear experienced with low - denomination notes in circulation. In 1994, 100 - and 200 - Rand notes were introduced. The 2005 series has the same principal design, but with additional security features such as colour - shifting ink on the 50 - Rand and higher and the EURion constellation. The obverses of all denominations were printed in English, while two other official languages were printed on the reverse, thus making use of all 11 official languages of South Africa. In 2010, the South African Reserve Bank and commercial banks withdrew all 1994 series 200 - Rand banknotes due to relatively high - quality counterfeit notes in circulation. In 2011, the South African Reserve Bank issued 100 - Rand banknotes which were defective because they lacked fluorescent printing visible under UV light. In June, printing of this denomination was moved from the South African Bank Note Company to Crane Currency 's Swedish division ( Tumba Bruk ), which reportedly produced 80 million 100 - Rand notes. The South African Reserve Bank shredded 3.6 million 100 - Rand banknotes printed by Crane Currency because they had the same serial numbers as a batch printed by the South African Bank Note Company. In addition, the notes printed in Sweden were not the correct colour, and they were 1 mm short. On 11 February 2012, President Jacob Zuma announced that the country would be issuing a new set of banknotes bearing Nelson Mandela 's image. They were entered into circulation on 6 November 2012. These contained the same denominations of 10 -, 20 -, 50 -, 100 - and 200 - Rand. In 2013, the 2012 series was updated with the addition of the EURion constellation to all five denominations. On 18 July 2018, a special commemorative series of banknotes was released in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela 's birth. This series includes notes of all denominations, 10 -, 20 -, 50 -, 100 - and 200 - Rand. These notes will circulate alongside the existing notes. The notes depict the standard face of Nelson Mandela on the obverse, but instead of the Big Five animals on the reverse, they show a younger Mandela with different iconic scenes relating to his legacy. These scenes comprise : the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape, featuring Mandela 's humble birthplace of Mvezo ( 10 - Rand ) ; the home of Mandela in Soweto, where he defined his political life alongside other struggle icons ( 20 - Rand ) ; the site where Mandela was captured near Howick, following 17 months in hiding, where a monument to him has been erected ( 50 - Rand ) ; the place of Mandela 's 27 - year imprisonment at Robben Island, showing a pile of quarried limestone ( 100 - Rand ) ; the statue of Mandela at the Union Buildings in remembrance of when he was inaugurated there in 1994 ( 200 - Rand ). First series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 1961 First Issue ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 1 Rand Jan van Riebeeck Lion from coat of arms Brown Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 136 × 78 2 Rand Lion from coat of arms Blue Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 149 × 84 10 Rand Jan van Riebeeck 's sailing ship Green Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 170 × 96 20 Rand Gold mine Purple Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 176 × 103 Second series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 1966 Second Issue ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 1 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and protea Farming and agriculture Brown Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 128 × 64 1 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and protea Farming and agriculture Brown Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 120 × 57 2 Rand Jan van Riebeeck, Cape Dutch architecture and vines Gariep Dam, pylon and maize cob Blue Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 127 × 63 5 Rand Jan van Riebeeck, Voortrekker Monument and Great Trek Mining Purple Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 134 × 70 10 Rand Jan van Riebeeck, Union Buildings and springbok Jan van Riebeeck 's three ships Green Afrikaans / English, English / Afrikaans 140 × 76 Third series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 1978 Third Issue ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 2 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and pylon Sasol coal to oil refinery Blue Afrikaans and English 120 × 57 5 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and diamonds Mining and Johannesburg city centre Purple English and Afrikaans 127 × 63 10 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and protea Agriculture Green Afrikaans and English 133 × 70 20 Rand Jan van Riebeeck, Cape Dutch architecture and vines Jan van Riebeeck 's three ships and Coat of Arms of South Africa Brown English and Afrikaans 140 × 77 50 Rand Jan van Riebeeck and lion Fauna and flora Red Afrikaans and English 147 × 83 Fourth series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 1992 Fourth Issue `` Big Five '' ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 10 Rand Rhinoceros Agriculture Green Afrikaans and English 128 × 70 20 Rand Elephants Mining Brown English and Afrikaans 134 × 70 50 Rand Lions Manufacturing Red Afrikaans and English 140 × 70 100 Rand Cape buffaloes Tourism Blue English and Afrikaans 146 × 70 200 Rand Leopards Transport and communication Orange Afrikaans and English 152 × 70 Fifth series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 2005 Fifth Issue `` English & Other Official Languages '' ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 10 Rand Rhinoceros Agriculture Green English, Afrikaans, Swati 128 × 70 20 Rand Elephants Mining Brown English, Southern Ndebele, Tswana 134 × 70 50 Rand Lions Manufacturing Red English, Venda, Xhosa 140 × 70 100 Rand Cape buffaloes Tourism Blue English, Northern Sotho, Tsonga 146 × 70 200 Rand Leopards Transport and communication Orange English, Sotho, Zulu 152 × 70 Sixth series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 2012 Sixth Issue `` Nelson Mandela '' ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 10 Rand Nelson Mandela Rhinoceros Green English, Afrikaans, Swati 128 × 70 20 Rand Elephant Brown English, Southern Ndebele, Tswana 134 × 70 50 Rand Lion Red English, Venda, Xhosa 140 × 70 100 Rand Cape buffalo Blue English, Northern Sotho, Tsonga 146 × 70 200 Rand Leopard Orange English, Sotho, Zulu 152 × 70 Seventh series Banknotes of the South African Rand ( 2018 Seventh Issue `` Mandela Centenary '' ) Value Obverse Reverse Colour Language Size ( mm ) 10 Rand Nelson Mandela Young Mandela and his birthplace of Mvezo Green English, Afrikaans, Swati 128 × 70 20 Rand Young Mandela and his home in Soweto Brown English, Southern Ndebele, Tswana 134 × 70 50 Rand Young Mandela and the site of his capture near Howick Red English, Venda, Xhosa 140 × 70 100 Rand Young Mandela and his place of imprisonment at Robben Island Blue English, Northern Sotho, Tsonga 146 × 70 200 Rand Young Mandela and his statue at the Union Buildings Orange English, Sotho, Zulu 152 × 70 Current ZAR exchange rates From Google Finance : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR USD JPY From Yahoo ! Finance : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR USD JPY From XE : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR USD JPY From OANDA : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR USD JPY From fxtop.com : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR USD JPY See also Financial Rand WitwatersRand KrugerRand Coins of the South African Rand South African pound Economy of South Africa References Jump up ^ `` From Van Riebeeck to Madiba ''. News24. 2012 - 09 - 12. Jump up ^ `` The Reserve Bank and the Rand : Some historic reflections ''. Resbank.co.za. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ A General 's Story : from an Era of War and Peace, Jannie Geldenhuys, Jonathan Ball, 1995, page 32 Jump up ^ `` ' Decimal Dan ' Sings : Catchy Tune Teaches New Currency ''. The Spokesman - Review. 10 January 1961. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Exchange Rates Between the United States dollar and South African rand ''. Measuring Worth. Retrieved 12 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` Rand vs the dollar in 2013 ''. Business Technology. January 2, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Rand vs the dollar in 2014 ''. Business Technology. December 17, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` A Rand value : 1994 -- 2015 ''. Business Technology. March 12, 2015. Jump up ^ Paul Vecchiatto Michael Cohen ( 11 January 2016 ). `` Zuma Begins Fightback as South Africa 's Rand Gets Hammered ''. Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 January 2016. Jump up ^ Patrick McGroarty & Joe Parkinson ( 11 January 2016 ). `` Africa Hit by China 's Woes ''. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 January 2016. Jump up ^ Candice Zachariahs ( 11 January 2016 ). `` Why the rand will face more manic Mondays after plunging 9 % ''. Fin24. Retrieved 13 January 2016. Jump up ^ Candice Zachariahs ( 11 January 2016 ). `` Rand sinks most in 7 years as traders fret over China, liquidity ''. Fin24. Retrieved 13 January 2016. Jump up ^ http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4836251&Itemid=15 ^ Jump up to : `` Rand slumps more than 8 % against dollar IOL ''. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Brexit vote shocker sends global markets into tailspin ''. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ Kuo, Lily. `` Brexit will be terrible for Africa 's largest economies ''. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ `` South Africa 's rand expected to stabilize for rest of year : Reuters poll ''. Reuters. April 6, 2017. Jump up ^ `` South African rand continues to fall after Zuma vote ''. Financial Times. August 9, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Goldman Sees Eskom as Biggest Risk to South African Economy ''. Bloomberg. September 22, 2017. Jump up ^ `` South Africa 's rand recovers after hitting 6 - month low ''. Reuters. October 9, 2017. Jump up ^ `` South African rand continues to fall after Zuma vote ''. Financial Times. November 13, 2017. Jump up ^ `` One Cent ( 1c ) ''. South African Mint. Retrieved 28 November 2012. Jump up ^ `` Two Cent ( 2c ) ''. South African Mint. Retrieved 28 November 2012. Jump up ^ `` South African currency ''. South African Reserve Bank. Retrieved 28 November 2012. Jump up ^ `` South Africa 's new R5 coin ''. SouthAfrica.info. 28 July 2004. Jump up ^ `` So whose face was on old SA money ? ''. IOL. 8 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` Statement issued by the SARB Governor, Ms G Marcus on counterfeit notes in circulation ''. South African Reserve Bank. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ `` South Africa faulty 100 - rand notes reported Africa ''. BanknoteNews.com. 2010 - 12 - 05. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` South Africa shreds 3.6 million defective 100 - rand notes Africa ''. BanknoteNews.com. 2012 - 05 - 20. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Nelson Mandela banknotes to be issued by South Africa ''. BBC. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012. Jump up ^ `` Announcement of the Introduction of a New Note Series ''. Resbank.co.za. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Nelson Mandela banknotes issued in South Africa ''. BBC Online. Jump up ^ `` South Africa new banknotes with Omron rings reported ''. BankNote News. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013. Jump up ^ `` New bank notes to honour Nelson Mandela 's centenary ''. BusinessTech. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Jump up ^ `` This is what South Africa 's new Mandela bank notes look like ''. BusinessTech. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` PICS : New Nelson Mandela banknotes launched ''. IOL. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018. Jump up ^ `` # Madiba100 commemorative notes and coin have a new look and feel ''. IOL. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018. ^ Jump up to : Wirz, Heinz. Dr Heinz Wirz on the Bank Notes of South Africa. Volume II - The South African Rand ( 7th ed. ). Jump up ^ `` Banknotes ''. Where 's My Moola. Retrieved 2012 - 11 - 19. Further reading Krause, Chester L. ; Clifford Mishler ( 1991 ). Standard Catalog of World Coins : 1801 -- 1991 ( 18th ed. ). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501. Pick, Albert ( 1994 ). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money : General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer ( editors ) ( 7th ed. ). Krause Publications. ISBN 0 - 87341 - 207 - 9. External links South African Reserve Bank Currency Page US Federal Reserve Bank historical exchange rate data South African Currency Page, with a short description of each note. South African Currency Page ( old Rand ), a short description of pre-1994 ( apartheid - era ) notes. Historical banknotes of South Africa ( in English ) ( in German ) Preceded by : South African pound Reason : decimalization Ratio : 2 rand = 1 South African pound = 1 British pound Currency of South Africa 1961 -- Succeeded by : Current Currency of South West Africa 1961 -- 1990 Note : administered by / occupied by South Africa since 1915 Currency of Namibia 1990 -- 1993 Legal tender in Namibia 1993 -- Succeeded by : Namibian dollar Reason : withdrawal from Common Monetary Area Ratio : at par Note : dollar introduced in 1993, with South African rand remaining legal tender Currency of Basutoland 1961 -- 1966 Currency of Lesotho 1966 -- 1980 Legal tender in Lesotho 1980 -- Succeeded by : Lesotho loti Note : loti introduced in 1980, with South African rand remaining legal tender Currency of Swaziland 1961 -- 1974 Legal tender in Swaziland 1974 -- 1986 Circulates in Swaziland 1986 -- Succeeded by : Swazi lilangeni Note : lilangeni introduced in 1974. South African rand continues to circulate unofficially Currency of Bechuanaland Protectorate 1961 -- 1966 Currency of Botswana 1966 -- 1976 Succeeded by : Botswana pula Reason : creation of independent currency Economy of South Africa By province Western Cape Gauteng Natural resources Mining industry Coal Agriculture Whaling Industry Automotive industry Services Banks Gambling Tourism Ecotourism LGBT tourism Telecommunications Nuclear power Power stations Economic history Mineral Revolution Witwatersrand Gold Rush Great Depression Disinvestment Affirmative action Black Economic Empowerment Broad - Based Black Economic Empowerment Qualifying Small Enterprises Scorecard Exempted Micro Enterprises Macroeconomics National Treasury Taxation South African rand Reserve Bank Consumer price index Provinces by HDI Misc. Trade unions Corruption Companies JSE Limited Traded companies Krugerrand Currencies of Africa North Algerian dinar Egyptian pound Euro Plazas de soberanía Libyan dinar Mauritanian ouguiya Moroccan dirham Sahrawi peseta ( unrecognized ) Sudanese pound Tunisian dinar Central Angolan kwanza Burundian franc Central African CFA franc Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon Congolese franc Rwandan franc East Comorian franc Djiboutian franc Eritrean nakfa Ethiopian birr Kenyan shilling Seychellois rupee Somali shilling Somaliland shilling ( unrecognized ) South Sudanese pound Tanzanian shilling Ugandan shilling South Botswana pula British pound sterling Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Zimbabwe Euro French Southern and Antarctic Lands Mayotte Réunion Zimbabwe Lesotho loti Malagasy ariary Malawian kwacha Mauritian rupee Mozambican metical Namibian dollar Saint Helena pound South African rand Lesotho Namibia Swaziland Zimbabwe Swazi lilangeni U.S. dollar Zimbabwe Zambian kwacha Zimbabwean dollar ( defunct due to hyperinflation since April 2009 ) Zimbabwean bond coins ( since 18 December 2014 - denominated in U.S. Cents ) Zimbabwean bond notes ( since 28 November 2016 - denominated in U.S. Dollars ) West Cape Verdean escudo Euro Canary Islands Madeira Gambian dalasi Ghanaian cedi Guinean franc Liberian dollar Nigerian naira São Tomé and Príncipe dobra Sierra Leonean leone West African CFA franc Benin Burkina Faso Guinea - Bissau Ivory Coast Mali Niger Senegal Togo Currency symbols ( ¤ ) Circulating ؋ ฿ ₵ ₡ ¢ $ ₫ ֏ € ƒ ₲ ₴ ₾ ₭ ₺ ₼ ₦ ₱ £ 元 圆 圓 ریال ៛ ₽ ₹ ૱ ௹ ꠸ Rs ₪ ৳ ₸ ₮ ₩ ¥ 円 Historic ₳ ₢ ₰ ₯ ₠ ₣ ₤ ₶ RM M ₧ 𐆚 𐆖 𐆙 𐆗 𐆘 Uncirculated ₥ ₷ Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_African_rand&oldid=864787037 '' Categories : ISO 4217 Currencies of Africa Circulating currencies Currency symbols 1961 establishments in South Africa Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Currencies of South Africa Currencies of Botswana Currencies of Namibia Currencies of Swaziland Currencies of Zimbabwe Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from February 2011 All articles needing additional references Use dmy dates from April 2012 Use South African English from April 2012 All Wikipedia articles written in South African English Articles containing Afrikaans - language text Articles containing Southern Ndebele - language text Articles containing Xhosa - language text Articles containing Zulu - language text Articles containing Swazi - language text Articles containing Northern Sotho - language text Articles containing Sotho - language text Articles containing Tswana - language text Articles containing Tsonga - language text Articles containing Venda - language text Articles with German - language external links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Asturianu Azərbaycanca Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Čeština Chi - Chewa Dansk Deitsch Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 客家 語 / Hak - kâ - ngî 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী Bahasa Indonesia IsiZulu Italiano עברית ქართული Коми Lietuvių Magyar മലയാളം मराठी Bahasa Melayu Mìng - dĕ̤ng - ngṳ̄ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Occitan Polski Português Română Русский Sesotho sa Leboa Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Tagalog Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська اردو Yorùbá 粵語 中文 50 more Edit links This page was last edited on 19 October 2018, at 13 : 12 ( UTC ). 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Question: what is the name of the currency in south africa
Answer: The rand