The Rand is the legal tender and official currency of
South Africa. The Rand was introduced in 1961 with the establishment of
the Republic of South Africa, supplanting the South African Pound as
legal tender at a rate of 2 Rand per Pound. One Rand can be divided
into 100 cents.
The Rand is available in banknotes of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 Rand
denominations. It is also available in 7 coins in 5c, 10c, 20c,
50c, R1, R2, and R5 denominations.
| Moody's Rating |
| Baa2 |
| S&P Rating |
| BBB |
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Sovereign
credit ratings play an important part in determining a country's access
to international capital markets, and the terms of that access.
Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and
efficiency of international and domestic markets.
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What does it look like?
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Political Structure South
Africa has been a republic since 1961. Its government can be divided
into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
branches.
In the executive branch, the president is both head of state and head
of government. The president is elected by the National Assembly and,
in turn, Cabinet Ministers are appointed by the president.
The legislative branch of South Africa is a bicameral Parliament
consisting of the National Assembly with 400 members and the National
Council of Provinces with 90 seats. Half of the members of the National
Assembly are chosen from a nationwide directory and the other half are
chosen from party lists in each province. Electoral reform is under
consideration.
The judicial branch of the central government is an independent
judiciary. The bill of rights guarantees fundamental political and
social rights of South Africa's citizens. The legal system is
fundamentally based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law.
Prominent Figures
Chief of State: President Thabo Mbeki
Head of Government: President Thabo Mbeki
Reserve Bank Governor: Tito Mboweni
Key Economic Factors
Economic Overview: Since
becoming independent, South Africa has developed into a middle-income,
emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources;
well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport
sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the ten largest in the
world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution
of goods. Growth, however, has not been strong enough to alleviate
South Africa of a high unemployment rate and other economic problems
like poverty and lack of economic empowerment among disadvantaged
groups. South Africa's economic policy has focused on targeting
inflation and liberalizing trade with aims of increasing job growth and
household income.
Export Commodities: Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment.
Import Commodities: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments and foodstuffs.
Major Trading Partners: Germany, US, China, Japan and UK.
Agricultural Products: Corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool and dairy products.
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