South Africa's new banknotes to bear Mandela's portrait

Feb 11, 2012, 13:49 GMT

Johannesburg - South Africa will issue new banknotes bearing the portrait of former president Nelson Mandela, the government and the country's central bank said Saturday.

The announcement was made on the 22nd anniversary of the day Mandela was released from prison, after serving 27 years behind bars for his role in the struggle against minority rule.

The 93-year-old anti-Apartheid icon has largely disappeared from public life in recent years. He was briefly hospitalized in early 2011 and now lives in his remote ancestral village Qunu, in the south of the country.

President Jacob Zuma said the banknotes were still under production.

Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said the decision was taken after consultations with a wide range of people, including Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the SAPA news agency reported.

South Africa's central bank had issued a statement saying it would be making an announcement of 'national importance,' but the lack of details had briefly spooked markets, with the rand tumbling by about 2.5 per cent against the dollar.

Officials at the central bank of Africa's largest economy were then forced to come out and calm traders, saying they were not about to make a drastic policy or personnel change.

After Mandela was released from prison, in 1990, he led negotiations to end the racist Apartheid regime and establish democracy.

In 1994 he was elected as the first black president of the republic and served one term in office before stepping down.