Nelson Mandela will now not only appear in one side of South Africa’s banknotes but on both sides in a limited issue set to be rolled out by the SA Reserve Bank (SARB)
An additional image of the former president will replace the rhino, the elephant, lion, buffalo and the leopard in special banknotes made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
As part of the Mandela centenary celebrations, the SARB will also issue out a new commemorative R5 coin that will also bear the face of the late statesman.
According to a statement released by the bank on recently, test packs of the banknotes were made available to members of the cash industry, with the aim to officially unveil them at a later date, but they were leaked and have been circulating on social media.
“In order to avoid confusion and unnecessary speculation, the SARB has decided to release all the designs ahead of the official launch scheduled for 13 July 2018.”
When will the new banknotes be made available to the public?
The bank says it will release more details on the new coin and banknotes’ features, as well as the security features in time for their official launch.
The banknotes will officially go into circulation on 18 July, which also happens to be Mandela’s birth date and co-circulate along with the existing notes for a limited period.
Here are the Mandela Centenary banknotes
They will be available in the form of the R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200 notes, as well as the limited edition R5 coin, which will be issued out by the South African Mint, a
subsidiary of the SARB.