South African rand: features, history and exchange rate

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The national currency of South Africa - the South African rand - has a rather interesting history and features, which will be discussed in this article.

Description

The name rand (rand) comes from the name of the mountain range, the name of which sounds like the Witwatersrand (in one of the official languages of South Africa, Afrikaans Witwatersrand). This mountain range is located in the South African province of Gauteng, which is famous for the country's largest gold deposits.

Rand has the international designation R and the ISO 4217 code - ZAR. The rand is made up of 100 cents. In addition to South Africa itself, the rand is used on the territory of the Single Monetary Area, which currently includes South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho.

A Brief History

The South African rand was introduced in 1961 to replace the then-used South African pound. This happened due to the acquisition of South Africa's sovereignty and withdrawal from the British Commonwe alth, since the Republic of South Africa did not want to be dependent on the former mother country anymore.

The exchange of the old currency for a new one took place at the rate of 1 pound 2 South African rand.

One of the features of this currency is that inRussian interpretation, there are two versions of the name of this currency, namely rand and rand. The reason for this is that the name rand came into Russian from English, where its original name was distorted and sounds like rand, and in Afrikaans it sounds like rand.

Coins

Since the introduction of the South African rand in circulation (1961), both paper banknotes and metal coins have been used. Since then, coins in denominations of half a cent, one cent, two and a half, five, ten and fifty cents have been used in the country.

In 1965, the two and a half cent coin was replaced by a two cent coin. The half cent coin was withdrawn from circulation in 1973. The one and two cent coins have ceased to be used since 2002. The reason for the rejection of small coins is inflation. Despite the fact that in the country not all prices in stores are multiples of five, when paying, the cost is simply rounded up.

There are also South African one rand coins, which have been issued since 1977, and two rand (1989) and five (1990) coins.

Banknotes

The first series of paper notes, issued in 1961, included banknotes of one, two, ten and twenty South African rands. The appearance of the first was very similar to the replaced South African pounds. This was done to facilitate the country's transition to a new currency.

Initially, banknotes depicted a portrait of the founder, and later the firstgovernor of the colony of Kapstad, as well as the city of Cape Town. At that time, Kapstad belonged to the Dutch East India Company.

The principle of the departed pound was preserved in the newly minted national currency, according to which all banknotes were issued in two versions: on the first, all the inscriptions were first in English, and then in Afrikaans, and on the second, on the contrary, first in Afrikaans, and then in English.

When a new series of banknotes was released in 1966, this principle was again used. Five-rand notes appeared in this series of paper notes, but twenty South African rand notes were withdrawn from circulation.

The next series of denominations was issued in 1978, which included banknotes two, five and ten rand. Banknotes in denominations of twenty and fifty rand were introduced only in 1984. This series of banknotes was the most heavily changed in appearance. Firstly, there was only one option left, where on the bills of two, ten and fifty rand, all the inscriptions were first in Afrikaans, and then in English. On banknotes of five and twenty, the situation was reversed: the inscriptions were first in English, and then in Afrikaans. Jan van Riebeeck's portrait was still present on all banknotes.

At the end of the 20th century. the appearance of banknotes has been changed. From now on, the obverse of the banknotes began to depict representatives of the "Big Five" of the animal world, which traditionally includes the elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion and leopard.

The two and five rand bills have been discontinued as they have been replaced bymetal coins. Since 1994, banknotes have appeared in denominations of one hundred and two hundred rand.

In 2012, a new series of paper notes appeared, which began to depict a portrait of the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. The new series of banknotes includes ten, twenty, fifty and two hundred rand notes.

South African Rand. Currency Chart

Today, the Republic of South Africa has a floating exchange rate regime, i.e. the value of the currency in the world currency market may fluctuate depending on the situation in the foreign exchange market.

In the case of the South African rand, the exchange rate anchor is the inflation rate in the country.

South African rand against the dollar

The state currency of the Republic of South Africa symbolizes its sovereignty and belonging to the African continent.

The rand is not in great demand outside the countries where it is in circulation, so the rate of the South African rand is not too high. If you compare it with the dollar, then for one American dollar you will get about twelve and a half rand, so for one rand you will get approximately $0.08.

If the South African rand is worth less than one tenth against the dollar, then comparing it with the euro, one can see that one rand can get no more than 0.07 euros. And for one British pound even less - about 0.06.

South African rand against ruble

Compared to Russianthe national currency, the South African monetary unit looks a little more advantageous. The cost of one Russian ruble in rands will be about 0.22 ZAR. Accordingly, the South African rand against the ruble is estimated at approximately 4.54 Russian rubles, which is not a high figure.

The higher value of the South African national currency is due to a number of factors, including a more stable and developed economy, a high influx of foreign capital and foreign tourists into the country, as well as the use of this currency in several states at once.

Exchange transactions

South Africa receives millions of foreign tourists from all over the world every year. And this number is getting bigger and bigger. The tourism sector is developing at a very high pace, becoming an increasingly important branch of the state economy. Most of the tourists are Europeans, Americans and Japanese. Russians do not visit this country very actively yet, however, about 40-50 thousand Russian tourists come to South Africa every year, not counting residents of the CIS countries.

Therefore, the issue of exchanging Russian currency for local is quite important. We will immediately stipulate the point that you should not come to South Africa with only Russian rubles in your hands, since it is almost impossible to exchange them for local money. There are very few exchange offices and financial organizations where you can exchange rubles. If you are lucky enough to find such a place, the commission will be very high.

It is best to exchange rubles for dollars, euros in advanceor British pounds because these are the most popular foreign currencies in South Africa. There is also a small percentage of companies and exchange offices dealing with some other African currencies, as well as with Australian and Canadian dollars. You can try to exchange Chinese Yuan or Japanese Yen.

Other currencies, including Russian rubles and Ukrainian hryvnia, cannot be exchanged. Therefore, you should not come to this country with rubles in the hope of exchanging them there.

It is worth noting that in the country, unlike many other African countries, there are no problems with ATMs and credit cards. In almost any large settlement, you can easily find an ATM or pay with a plastic bank card in a supermarket or cafe.

Conclusion

South Africa is a distant exotic state where millions of foreigners come every year to admire the African savannas, go on safari and watch wild animals in their natural habitat. The Russians have not mastered this country yet, but every year the number of our compatriots who come here on vacation is growing.

Before you go abroad, you need to study the country where you intend to go as well as possible, especially if it is such a distant and exotic country as South Africa.

An important point in studying the characteristics of a country is its financial side. It is necessary, so to speak, to know in person the national currency of the state where you are going to go. By clarifying all the features related to the financial side, you can eliminate the likelihood of a number of problems.