Gill Marcus: South Africa's new banknotes
Address by Ms Gill Marcus, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the launch of
the communications campaign for the Mandela banknote series, Pretoria, 5 September 2012.
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Good morning and thank you for being with us today. I know a number of you have travelled
from abroad to be here, and we appreciate your attendance and participation.
Today is a momentous occasion. The South African Reserve Bank is launching a
communication campaign to showcase the country's new banknote series and to inform the
public about the unique features of South Africa's new banknotes.
The front of the new banknotes feature the image of South Africa's first democratically elected
President, Nelson Mandela. The reverse side of each denomination features an image of one
of the "big five" animals. The new notes have the same denominations, sizes and colours as
the existing series, which was adopted twenty years ago.
The design and production of this new series of banknotes has been a long but exciting
journey for the Reserve Bank and our key partners in the public and private sectors.
A country's currency is a fundamental component of its national identity. It should be a
reflection of its culture and heritage. South Africa's banknotes have reflected aspects of its
culture and heritage since the inception of the South African rand in 1961. In earlier days,
South African banknotes featured such diverse images as that of Jan van Riebeeck, and later
the "Big Five". What will surely become known as the "Mandela banknote series" reflects
South Africa's pride as a nation and pays tribute to a much-loved world icon.
To give a brief history of South African banknotes:
About 230 years ago the Dutch Governor Joachim van Plettenberg first introduced paper
money in the Cape. All the notes had to be handwritten because there was no printing press
in the Cape. The money featured a government fiscal hand stamp that showed the value of
the money and the authority date of the issue. It was only in 1803 that notes were printed, but
they still bore the fiscal hand stamp. The early currency, including the rix dollar and stiver
denominations, played a significant role in the early economic development of our country.
South Africa later used the British pound sterling as its currency until 1961, when the rand
was introduced. The "big five" theme was adopted after the unbanning of political parties and
the release of political prisoners, reflecting what was considered as a design that would be
acceptable to all South Africans. The currency was last upgraded in 2005 when enhanced
security features on the "Big Five" banknote series were added. Internationally, it is regarded
as best practice for central banks to upgrade the security features of their banknotes every six
to eight years. This is to combat counterfeiting, which diminishes the value of real money,
robs countries worldwide of billions of rand annually, and tarnishes the credibility of a
currency, thereby impacting on the growth of that economy.
One of the responsibilities of the South African Reserve Bank is to protect the value and
integrity of the South African currency. Through this comprehensive communication
campaign, we want to ensure that all our citizens and organisations familiarise themselves
with the look and feel of the new banknotes, and reinforce the culture of knowing our money. I
also want to emphasise that the current notes remain legal tender and are of equal value to
the new note. So whether you have the existing R200 note or a R200 Mandela note, they are
both worth the same.
This is the launch of the communication campaign about the new banknotes, which we plan to
introduce into circulation before the end of this year. The date on which these notes will be
available and co-circulate with the current note for a while will be made public in due course.
Before then, much remains to be done and the SARB Team is hard at work with many of you
to make this happen in a seamless manner.
I would like to thank all our partners: the cash industry, including commercial banks and
cashin-transit companies; the retail sector; government departments; the Society for the Blind; and
the Pan South African Language Board for their sound support and willingness to a play an
important role in informing the broader South African public about the country's new banknote
series.
We will now share with you the details and roll-out of the new banknote communication
campaign. Through the campaign we hope to reach all South Africans and ensure that they
are aware of the new banknotes and, more importantly, that they can recognise and become
familiar with the key security features.
Thank you.