CURRENCY IMAGE PRODUCTION: REVISED SARB POLICY PUBLISHED

CURRENCY IMAGE PRODUCTION: REVISED SARB POLICY PUBLISHED

• 27 July 2026
• General Interest
• SA Legal Academy

The South African Reserve Bank has published a revised policy on the production, reproduction and use of South African currency images. Retrospectively in force from 1 April 2026, the policy applies to ‘all instances’ of creating and reproducing an image of any unit of currency by ‘any juristic or natural person incorporated or domiciled in the Republic of South Africa’.

In that context, the policy expressly refers to currency image production for:

• ‘ostensibly bona fide educational purposes’
• news
• ‘currency collecting’, and
• currency ‘portrayal in simulated commercial transactions’.

Replacing an iteration effective from 2016, the policy’s purpose is to:

• ‘minimise the risk of non-compliance’ with the:
  • 1965 Prevention of Counterfeiting of Currency Act, and
  • 1989 South African Reserve Bank Act
• ‘discourage any attempts at counterfeiting and forgery’, and
• ‘maintain the integrity’ of South African currency.

This is noting that, ‘in exceptional circumstances’, the SARB committee concerned ‘may exercise its prerogative to deviate from the … policy when it is believed to be in the best interest of the bank /SARB group’. In that regard, the policy includes procedures to be followed when applying for permission to produce a currency image for reproduction.

• revised policy

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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