South African rand

The South African rand, or simply the rand, (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of South Africa. It is divided into 100 smaller parts called cents, and a comma is used to separate the rand from the cents.

This money is also used in some nearby countries. It is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area member states of Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. These countries also have their own currencies—the dollar, the loti, and the lilangeni—but they are tied to the rand and accepted everywhere.

In Botswana, the rand was used until 1976, when it was replaced by the pula. Today, the rand is also accepted in Zimbabwe as part of a system that allows people to use several different currencies, including the euro, the pound sterling, the US dollar, and the Zimbabwean ZiG.

Etymology

The rand gets its name from the Witwatersrand, which means "white waters' ridge" in English. The word rand comes from the Afrikaans and Dutch language and means 'ridge'. This is the name of the ridge where the city of Johannesburg is located, and it is also where many of South Africa's gold deposits were discovered. In English, Afrikaans, and Dutch, we say "rand" whether we are talking about one rand, ten rand, or even two million rand.

History

See also: South African pound

The rand was introduced in the Union of South Africa in 1961, just before the country declared itself a republic. Before this, South Africa used pounds, shillings, and pence. A special group worked on changing to a new currency, and they shared their ideas in August 1958. The rand replaced the South African pound at a rate of 2 rand for every 1 pound, or 10 shillings for each rand. The government even created a character named Decimal Dan, called “the rand-cent man” (known in Afrikaans as Daan Desimaal), and used a radio jingle to teach people about the new money. While it was first said in an Afrikaans way, today people in South African English say the rand a bit differently.

Brief exchange rate history

1961–2000

When the rand first started in 1961, one rand was worth US$1.40 (or R0.72 for each dollar). This stayed the same until 1971. In 1982, the U.S. dollar became stronger than the rand for the first time. After that, the rand’s value changed a lot. By the early 1980s, high prices, political troubles, and international actions against the country because of the apartheid system made the rand weaker. It took more rand to buy a dollar—by February 1985, it took over R2. In July 1985, leaders stopped people from trading money for three days to try to stop the rand from losing more value.

By August 1985, it took R2.40 to buy one dollar. The rand got a little stronger between 1986 and 1988 but weakened again by the end of 1989, taking more than R2.50 for one dollar.

In the early 1990s, as the country moved toward changes that would include more Black people in leadership, the rand kept getting weaker. By November 1992, it took R3 to buy one dollar. Many events affected the rand after that, including the 1994 general election, when it took over R3.60 for one dollar; the choosing of Tito Mboweni to lead the South African Reserve Bank; and the start of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999, when the rand slipped to over R6 for one dollar. Things like changes in Zimbabwe and the September 11 attacks made the rand even weaker, reaching its lowest point of R13.84 for one dollar in December 2001.

2001–2011

The big drop in 2001 led to a close look and then a strong comeback. By the end of 2002, the rand was back under R9 for one dollar, and by the end of 2004, it was under R5.70. It got a little weaker in 2005 but got stronger again in early 2006, falling below R6 for one dollar in January. However, it weakened again during the middle parts of 2006.

2012–present

Problems in mining in late 2012 led to new lows in early 2013. In January 2014, the rand fell to R11.25 for one dollar because of news that the US Federal Reserve would change its financial support, causing a big sell-off in emerging economies. In 2014, the rand had its worst year against the U.S. dollar since 2009, and by March 2015, it was at its worst since 2002. By the end of 2014, the rand had weakened to R15.05 for one dollar, partly because South Africa kept having trouble earning enough money from selling things to other countries.

In December 2015, the rand dropped quickly after President Jacob Zuma surprised everyone by changing the Finance Minister, which made international investors worried. The rand kept changing in value through January 2016, reaching a low of R17.9169 for one U.S. dollar before going back up a bit.

The drop in January was also affected by Japanese investors looking for better returns elsewhere and worries about slower growth in China, South Africa’s biggest customer for goods. By April 2016, the rand was doing better, trading at R14.16 for one U.S. dollar.

After the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union in June 2016, the rand dropped over 8% in one day—the biggest fall since the 2008 economic crash. This happened because people were moving money away from riskier currencies to the U.S. dollar, and also because there were worries about how leaving the EU would affect South Africa’s economy and trade.

In April 2017, experts thought the rand would stay fairly steady for the rest of the year. After President Jacob Zuma won a vote in August 2017, the rand dropped a little. In October 2017, the rand got stronger again after recovering from a low point six months earlier.

In October 2022, the rand reached its lowest point in two years, at R18.46 for one U.S. dollar. The rand has not had big changes in value like some other African currencies, staying about the same as the Euro, US dollar, and Renminbi since 2016. The rand started to get stronger in 2024 compared to the U.S. dollar and stayed stable.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the South African rand

South Africa started using coins in 1961. These coins came in different values like half a cent, one cent, two and a half cents, five cents, ten cents, twenty cents, and fifty cents. Later, in 1965, two-cent coins were added to replace the two and a half cent coins. Over time, some smaller coins were no longer made because they became worth very little.

In 2004, a new five-rand coin was made with special designs to prevent people from copying it. In May 2023, new coins were planned with pictures of animals and plants from South Africa, like the Cape Honey Bee and the Springbok.

Banknotes

The first series of rand banknotes was introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1, 2, 10, and 20 rand. They had images that were thought to be Jan van Riebeeck, but it was later found that the picture was actually of someone else.

In 1966, a new set of banknotes was released with different designs. Notes of 1, 5, and 10 rand were made, each in one main colour. Smaller 1 rand notes came in 1973, and 2 rand notes in 1974. The 20 rand note from the first set was stopped.

During the 1990s, banknotes were changed to show pictures of the Big Five animals. New 10, 20, and 50 rand notes came out in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, 100 and 200 rand notes were added.

In 2012, new banknotes with the image of Nelson Mandela were introduced. These had the same amounts: 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. In 2018, special banknotes were made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's birth. These notes show different important places from Mandela's life.

In 2023, it was announced that new banknotes would keep Mandela's picture on one side and show the Big 5 animals together on the other. These notes also come in 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand.

First series

Second series

Third series

Fourth series

Fifth series

Sixth series

Seventh series

Eighth series