South African rand

The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the South African currency. 100 cents make up one rand. The rand is named after an area near Johannesburg called the Rand, which is famous for its gold mines.

South African rand
Suid-Afrikaanse Rand (in Afrikaans)
ISO 4217 Code	ZAR
Official user(s)	South Africa (Common Monetary Area member)  Lesotho (Common Monetary Area member), alongside Lesotho loti  Namibia (Common Monetary Area member), alongside Namibian dollar  Swaziland (Common Monetary Area member), alongsde Swazi lilangeni
Unofficial user(s)	Zimbabwe[1]
Inflation	3.6% (South Africa only)
Source	South African Reserve Bank, November 2010
Method	CPI
Pegged with	Lesotho loti, Swazi lilangeni and Namibian dollar at par
Subunit
1/100	Cent
Symbol	R
Cent	c
Plural	rand
Coins	10c, 20c, 50c, R 1, R 2, R 5
Banknotes	R 10, R 20, R 50, R 100, R 200
Central bank	South African Reserve Bank
Website	www.reservebank.co.za

The symbol for the rand is a capital R, written before the sum. Thus, one hundred rand is written as R100. The plural form is "rand" in both English and Afrikaans. In February 2018, it was announced that a new series of banknotes would be released in commemoration of what would have been Nelson Mandela's centennial year. This series would include notes of all denominations, 10-, 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-Rand. These notes would circulate alongside existing notes and be released on 18 July 2018, which was the 100th anniversary of his birth.[34] 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 related 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 has been erected in his honour (50-Rand); the place of Mandela's 27-year imprisonment at Robben Island (100-Rand); the inauguration of Mandela as president at the Union Buildings in 1994 (200-Rand).

References

1. Alongside Zimbabwean dollar (suspended indefinitely from 12 April 2009), euro, US dollar. Pound sterling and Botswana pula. The US dollar has been adopted as the official currency for all government transactions.