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
Currency basket of currencies (and assets held). In most cases, a central bank has a monopoly right to issue of coins and banknotes (fiat money) for its own area of circulation (a country or group of countries); it regulates the production of currency by banks (credit) through monetary policy. An exchange rate is the price at which two currencies can be exchanged against each other. This is used for trade between the two currency zones. Exchange rates can be classified as either floating or fixed. In the former, day-to-day movements in exchange rates are determined by the market; in the latter,