What is the South African rand (ZAR)?

South African Rand (ZAR)
US Dollar (USD) 0.13615
1/6/2010 3:00 AM

What is the South African rand (ZAR)?

The Rand is the legal tender and official currency of South Africa. The Rand was introduced in 1961 with the establishment of the Republic of South Africa, supplanting the South African Pound as legal tender at a rate of 2 Rand per Pound. One Rand can be divided into 100cents.


The Rand is available in banknotes of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 Rand denominations. It is also available in 9 coins in 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R1, R2, and R5 denominations.

Political Structure South Africa has been a republic since 1961. Its government can be divided into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches.

In the executive branch, the president is both head of state and head of government. The president is elected by the National Assembly and, in turn, Cabinet Ministers are appointed by the president.

The legislative branch of South Africa is a bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly with 400 members and the National Council of Provinces with 90 seats. Half of the members of the National Assembly are chosen from a nationwide directory and the other half are chosen from party lists in each province. Electoral reform is under consideration.

The judicial branch of the central government is an independent judiciary. The bill of rights guarantees fundamental political and social rights of South Africa's citizens. The legal system is fundamentally based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law.

Prominent Figures Chief of State: President Thabo Mbeki
Head of Government: President Thabo Mbeki
Reserve Bank Governor: Tito Mboweni

Key Economic Factors Economic Overview:

Since becoming independent, South Africa has developed into a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the ten largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods. Growth, however, has not been strong enough to alleviate South Africa of a high unemployment rate and other economic problems like poverty and lack of economic empowerment among disadvantaged groups. South Africa's economic policy has focused on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade with aims of increasing job growth and household income.

Export Commodities:

Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment.

Import Commodities:

Machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments and foodstuffs.

Major Trading Partners:

Germany, US, China, Japan and UK.

Agricultural Products:

Corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool and dairy products.