South Africa plans new Nelson Mandela bank notes

By Arthur L. Friedberg

Published: Feb 25, 2018, 5 AM

Since 2012, all of South Africa’s bank notes have depicted Nelson Mandela. A commemorative series is expected to be unveiled later this year, before the centennial of his birth on July 18.

Original image courtesy of the South African Reserve Bank.

Nelson Mandela has been on the face of every South African bank note denomination (10-, 20-, 50-, 100-, and 200-rand issues) since 2012. With the hundredth anniversary of Mandela’s birth on the horizon, the South African Reserve Bank announced that as part of the birthday celebrations, a new commemorative banknote series of all five denominations, as well as a 5-rand coin will be issued on July 18, the date of his birth.

The bank said that although the new notes will be commemorative in nature, the intention is that they will circulate alongside the existing regular issues.

Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said, “Nelson Mandela represented the best version of ourselves as South Africans. We unveiled the current Mandela series of banknotes in 2012 to honour him. While preserving the value of money is our main mandate, our purpose is to be a bastion of institutional strength, contributing to a stable and prosperous economy that serves the well-being of all South Africans, and guided in part by Madiba’s values.”

Madiba is Mandela’s Xhosa clan name and is used as a sign of respect and affection.

More information on the designs will be provided by the bank closer to the issue date.

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