History of the South African Rand:
- Introduced by Verwoerd in 1961, $1=R0.71
- The rand was fairly stable until 1980, at that time under Vorster it was $1=R0.67
-After that, heavy sanctions started, making the Rand drop to $1=R1.20 in 1984 under PW Botha, and $1=R2.33 in 1989 under de Klerk
-By the Time Mandela became President, the Rand had already dropped to $1=R3.42
-This is where the Rand became very unstable, and dropped exponentially and reached a staggering $1=R11.47 in 2003
-Mbeki started economic reforms in 2003 which strengthen the Rand back to $1=R5.85 in 2005
-With the Zuma Presidency the free fall of the value of the Rand started, dropping the value all the way to $1=R13.73 the day Ramaphosa took office in 2018
-The free fall of the Rand accelerated under Ramaphosa, Regularly dropping below $1=R19 in the past year.
I have stopped all trips for super fans, we have athletes & artist who are struggling to raise money to attend sporting events and exhibitions, how do we justify paying for fans? We shall no longer be paying for these trips and will use that money where it’s needed the most.
@RonaldWG Ron I love reading your tweets but lying in bed with a gas heater nearby contemplating if another ouma rusk will make me feel better about life … all I can say is - not enjoying today’s tweet at all 😂 #greenwithenvy have a wonderful time !!
18 years ago today … the Rand was at R6.50 to the US Dollar!
R6.50. And it was said to have “dived”.
This is the front page of the Business Day newspaper from Tuesday May 16, 2006.
(It’s framed because this formed part of my son’s 18th Birthday gift today🥹).