What is on the money in South Africa?

Mandela replaced the Big Five animals on the front of every denomination in 2012, though the animals stayed on the reverse — so the notes carry both. The colloquial name for the currency became "Randela" almost immediately. Before 1992 the notes carried Jan van Riebeeck, and the sequence of what a country puts on its money is about as direct a record of its politics as exists.

Who and what is on each note

The practical facts

Currency

South African rand — ISO code ZAR, symbol R

Printed on

Paper

Survives a wash?

Not reliably. Paper notes disintegrate when soaked.

Can a blind person tell them apart?

Yes — the denominations differ in size, which is the simplest and most reliable tactile cue there is.

Highest note in issue

R200 — Nelson Mandela; leopard

This page describes the notes rather than showing them. Reproducing a banknote image is restricted in most jurisdictions, and the restrictions differ between them.