[2] A Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider a move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings, and pence; it submitted its recommendations on 8 August 1958.

By the early 1980s, high inflation and mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country due to international opposition to the apartheid system had started to erode its value.

The controversial land reform programme that was initiated in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, propelled it to its weakest historical level of R13.84 to the dollar in December 2001.

This downward slide could be attributed to a range of factors: South Africa's worsening current account deficit, which widened to a 36‑year high of 7.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007; inflation at a five-year high of just under 9%; escalating global risk aversion as investors' concerns over the spreading impact of the sub-prime crisis grew; and a general flight to "safe havens", away from the perceived risks of emerging markets.

The rand depreciation was exacerbated by the Eskom electricity crisis, which arose from the utility's inability to meet the country's rapidly growing energy demands.

[11] In late January 2014, the rand slid to R11.25 to the dollar, with analysts attributing the shift to "word from the US Federal Reserve that it would trim back stimulus spending, which led to a massive sell-off in emerging economies.

"[13] By the end of 2014, the rand had weakened to R15.05 per dollar, partly due to South Africa's consistent trade account deficit with the rest of the world.

From 9–13 December 2015, over four days, the rand dropped over 10% due to what some suspected was President Jacob Zuma's surprise announcement that he would be replacing the Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with the little-known David van Rooyen.

The rapid drop in value stemmed when Zuma backtracked and announced that the better-known previous Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, would instead be appointed to the post.

[14] The January drop in value was also partly caused by Japanese retail investors cutting their losses in the currency to look for higher-yield investments elsewhere and due to concerns over the impact of the economic slowdown in China, South Africa's largest export market.

[18] Following the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union, the rand dropped in value over 8% against the US$ on 24 June 2016, the currency's largest single-day decline since the 2008 economic crash.

[22] When President Jacob Zuma narrowly won a motion of no confidence in South Africa in August 2017, the rand continued to slide, dropping 1.7% that day.

[23] In September 2017, Goldman Sachs said that the debt and corruption of Eskom Holdings was the biggest risk to South Africa's economy and the exchange rate of the rand.

At the time, it had no permanent CEO, and Colin Coleman of Goldman Sachs in Africa said the company was "having discussions on solutions" on finding credible management.

Reuters noted, "South Africa is highly susceptible to global investor sentiment as the country relies on foreign money to cover its large budget and current account deficits.

The 10c will feature an image of the Cape Honey Bee, the 20c the Bitter Aloe, the 50c the Knysna Turaco, the R1 the Springbok, the R2 the King Protea, and the R5 the Southern Right Whale.

[citation needed] The 2005 series has the same principal design but with additional security features, such as colour-shifting ink on the 50 rand and higher and the EURion constellation.

[37] In 2011, the South African Reserve Bank issued defective 100 rand banknotes which lacked fluorescent printing visible under UV light.

[39] On 11 February 2012, President Jacob Zuma announced that the country would be issuing a new set of banknotes bearing Nelson Mandela's image.

[45][46][47] On 3 May 2023, the South African Reserve Bank announced that a new series of banknotes would retain the image of Nelson Mandela on the obverse while showing the Big 5 in a family depiction on the reverse.