Casinos supporting South African Rand Currency

The South African rand, despite the name, is actually used in a number of countries in the general area. Its iconography is unquestionably South African, as is the origin of the name, but it is a truly international currency.

The rand is used as the currency in what is called the Common Monetary Area, a political region in the south part of the continent that consists of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Namibia was originally part of the CMA, but withdrew from it in 1993 to introduce the Namibian dollar. Despite over twenty years of having its own currency, however, Namibia still accepts the rand as legal tender within its borders.

The name "rand" comes from the "Witwatersrand," which is the name of the ridge where Johannesburg is built. In English it is the "Ridge of White Waters" and conveys a hidden meaning as the name of their currency by being the place where most South African gold is mined.

There was a time when the rand was worth more than the US Dollar, but sanctions due to apartheid drastically decreased its value starting in the early 1980s. Even after the sanctions were lifted, however, a generally unstable economy drove the price lower to the point where it is several rand to the dollar today.