New South African banknotes to circulate

The new South African banknotes which feature an image of Former South African President, Nelson Mandela on the front and images of the “Big Five” animals on the back on various banknote denominations will officially go into circulation next week Tuesday.
The new series banknotes are unique with a state of the art security features and are amongst the best in the world, with enhanced features for the visually impaired that include raised print on both sides.
“Our currency is a unique symbol of our nationhood, with many of us handling banknotes every day. The Reserve Bank is proud to be able to honour South Africa’s struggle icon and first democratically elected President in this way, and we thank all our stakeholders for their hard work in making this process possible,” said the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank( SARB), Gill Marcus in a statement this week.
Locally, the Bank of Namibia in partnership with SARB has embarked on an awareness campaign under the theme “One of the Kind” which is aimed at educating and raising public awareness about the new banknotes which is a legal tender in Namibia. The current and the new banknotes will co-circulate.
According to the Governor of the Bank of Namibia, Ipumbu Shiimi, The campaign will be publicised in the print media and through target road shows in Windhoek. Commercial banks, law enforcement officials and other cash-handling institutions have been sensitised on the new banknotes through continuing training.
He said, the campaign forms part of a wider awareness campaign launched in September in South Africa and extended to Namibia and other common monetary areas such as Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland where the Rand circulates.