The earliest suggestions for the establishment of the Central Bank in South Africa date back to 1879.

The remaining seven directors are appointed by the Shareholders of the Bank, also for a three-year term.

[5] The Reserve Bank, with 2 million issued shares, is one of eight reserve banks worldwide that have shareholders other than the governments of their respective countries (the others being Belgium, Greece, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United States).

[3] The South African government has announced that it plans to nationalise the Reserve Bank.

[1] On 1 April 2024, an arm of the South African Reserve Bank, the Corporation for Deposit Insurance (CODI), became operational; this is South Africa's deposit insurance scheme.