Financial rand Financial rand The South African financial rand was the most visible part of a system of capital controls. Although the financial rand was abolished in March 1995, some capital controls remain in place. These capital controls are locally referred to as "exchange controls", although the system has since 1995 moved towards surveillance — recording and reporting to the authorities of foreign currency transactions — rather than control. Capital controls have been in place in South Africa in various guises on an uninterrupted basis since the outbreak of World War II, when Great Britain and its dominions implemented the Sterling area.
Currency substitution Currency substitution Currency substitution or dollarization is the use of a foreign currency in parallel to or instead of the domestic currency. Currency substitution can be full or partial. Most, if not all, full currency substitution has taken place after a major economic crisis, for example, Ecuador and El Salvador in Latin America and Zimbabwe in Africa. Some small economies, for whom it is impractical to maintain an independent currency, use those of their larger neighbours; for example Liechtenstein uses the Swiss Franc. Partial currency substitution occurs when residents of a country choose to hold a significant share of their