South African rand South African rand The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the currency of South Africa. The Rand is subdivided into 100 cents (sign: "c"). The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch "Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand" (South African Rand). The Rand is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland (Eswatini), Lesotho, and Namibia, although the last three countries do have their own currencies pegged at par with rand. Before 1976, the rand was legal tender in Botswana. The Rand takes its name from the WitwatersRand ("white waters' ridge" in English), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and
South African rand the end of 2004 was trading under R 5.70 to the dollar. The currency softened somewhat in 2005, and was trading around R 6.35 to the dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006, however, the currency resumed its rally, and as of 19 January 2006, was trading under R 6 to the dollar again. However, during the second and third quarters of 2006 (i.e. April through September), the Rand weakened significantly. In sterling terms, it fell from around 9.5p to just over 7p, losing some 25% of its international trade-weighted value in just six months.