The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has said that it will be launching its first commemorative banknote series, in celebration of the first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela’s birth centenary. 

These notes will cover all denominations - R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200 - and as part of the celebrations, the South African Mint, a subsidiary of the SARB, will also be issuing a new commemorative circulation R5 coin.

SARB said that test packs of the commemorative banknotes had already been made available to members of the broader cash industry to allow them to make adequate preparations in relation to issues such as adaptions of cash processing and cash dispensing machines, ticketing machines and so forth. 

It is envisaged that these notes will be issued into circulation by 18 July, the centenary of the former Stateman's birth.