ZAR South African Rand
Buy and sell South African Rand in Sydney
Heading to Cape Town or a game reserve? Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000, trades weekdays 9:30am to 5pm, quoting rand notes both ways at 0% commission, live at the window.
How to get your South African rand
Look up the rate, come up, collect the cash.
Check today's ZAR exchange rate
One rate, shown two ways: the rand your Australian dollars will buy, and the Australian dollars that come back for rand already in your wallet.
Visit our store
Take the lift to Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000, close to Wynyard, or ring (02) 8014 4222 ahead and the rand will be counted out ready.
Get your cash
You watch the notes counted and take the cash straight away; rand left after the trip is bought back at this window.
Key information about the rand
Big Five notes, six coins, and three neighbours that take them too.
The rand replaced the South African pound in 1961, taking its name from the Witwatersrand gold reef, and the South African Reserve Bank issues it. One rand splits into 100 cents. It floats freely, trades heavily for an emerging-market currency, and has a reputation for swinging on commodity prices and politics alike.
Notes go R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200, each carrying Nelson Mandela on the front and one of the Big Five on the back. The upgraded series launched on 3 May 2023, adding a site from Mandela's life to every denomination; older notes were not withdrawn and still spend. There is no R5 note - that is a coin.
Johannesburg and Cape Town are long flights but common ones from Sydney, and buying South African rand in Sydney before departure means you land with tip money in your pocket. The rand sits on our board among 22 currencies. Photo ID is needed, a call ahead pins the note mix, and unspent rand comes back at the buy-back rate.
South African Rand details
- Currency
- South African Rand
- Code
- ZAR
- Symbol
- R
- Subunit
- 100 cents
- Central bank
- South African Reserve Bank
South African Rand in use
- Banknotes
- R10, R20, R50, R100, R200 - the upgraded Mandela series arrived on 3 May 2023 and circulates beside the earlier notes, which remain legal tender
- Coins
- 10c, 20c, 50c, R1, R2, R5 (1c, 2c and 5c pieces are no longer minted, so cash totals are generally rounded to the nearest 10c)
- Used in
- South Africa
- Also used
- Legal tender across the Common Monetary Area - Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini - whose currencies are pegged one-for-one to the rand. It does not work in reverse: Namibian dollars, maloti and emalangeni are generally refused inside South Africa.
The smallest note is R10; anything under that is a coin. Hold a steady stock of R10s, R20s and R50s for tips, and keep the R200s for hotel and car-hire bills.
Today's ZAR exchange rate in Sydney
Two quotes come off the one pair: a selling rate that puts rand notes in your hand, and a buying rate we pay for rand you bring back. Every AUD to ZAR figure below tracks the calculator as it updates.
Buying South African rand in Sydney
A$1 = R10.949
A$ out, rand notes in your pocket.
- 0% commission on the rand, and no charge stacked on the rate you are quoted
- Cash at the window is the only payment we take at present
- Load the mix with R20s and R50s - tips, car guards and roadside stalls all run on small notes
Selling South African rand back in Sydney
R100 = A$8.40
Bring the rand back, walk out with A$.
- Payment in Australian dollars follows immediately once the count is agreed
- Whole, unmarked notes only; torn, taped or badly worn rand may not be accepted
- Both the 2023 upgraded notes and the earlier Mandela design are current rand and both are taken
Every figure here is taken from our own board, which shifts while the market is trading. Whatever time the calculator carries is the time these tables carry, and whatever is quoted as the exchange goes through is what binds.
What things cost in South Africa
Cape Town and the private game lodges are the expensive end; Durban, the small Karoo towns and anywhere inland run noticeably cheaper. Peak season is December.
South Africa travel money tips
Where the cash actually goes, and three things worth knowing.
Carry small notes, not big amounts
South Africa runs a daily tipping economy that cards cannot reach. Petrol attendants fill your tank because there is no self-service, car guards watch your car in every shopping-centre car park, and both expect a few rand in the hand. Restaurant service is 10 to 15%, usually cash. Keep a working float of R10, R20 and R50 notes, top it up as it runs down, and leave the rest where it is not on show.
Things to see in South Africa
Cities under mountains, a coast road, big-game country and vineyards - and a pocket of rand for the tips, the tolls and the roadside stalls.
Why exchange rand with us
Stocking up before a safari or a Cape Town summer, or clearing out what came home - one registered counter in the CBD, priced live both ways.
0% commission, no fees on top
0% commission applies to the AUD to ZAR rate, with nothing charged separately for service or handling. Whatever rand total appears against your Australian dollars in the calculator is what you walk out with.
Live, timestamped counter rates
Rand prices here are set on our board, not pulled from a market feed, and each one shows when it was last moved. Buying and selling are two separate quotes and always have been.
Registered, reviewed, guaranteed
AUSTRAC registered; the trading entity is ABN 18 675 798 302. Google reviewers put the counter at across 59 ratings, and the Best Price Guarantee is committed to writing.
Rated on Google by 59 customers
Every one of these was left on our Google profile by someone who came up to Level 2. We cannot edit them or take them down.
"Nice attention, customer service and good rate"
"Great people. Great rates. Great location. Sunil is the best."
"Thanks sunil. Great service and great rates"
"Pretty good rates, the place is clean and comfortable to wait in."
See what customers across Sydney say about our rates and service.
Read them all on Googlearrow_forwardCommon questions about the rand
If it is not here, ring (02) 8014 4222 while the counter is staffed.
You will find it in the calculator above, quoted in each direction: what you pay for rand and what we pay for rand you bring in. The rand floats and is one of the more actively traded emerging-market currencies, so the number shifts through the day. The number agreed at the counter is what the transaction is priced on.
Suite 202A, on Level 2 at 60 York Street, NSW 2000 - four minutes on foot from Wynyard station, in the middle of the city. Weekday trading runs from 9:30am until 5pm, no appointment needed, so photo ID is all you have to bring. Phoning (02) 8014 4222 first lets us have the amount ready for you.
The buying panel below prices A$1,000 next to four other amounts, all from the counter's live selling rate, and every one of them re-prices when the calculator does. Take it as an indication rather than a locked quote: rand rates move during the day, and whatever the window confirms is what decides the count.
None, in either direction. The rate agreed at the window is the whole cost of the transaction; there is no separate service or handling fee behind it. That holds whether you are picking rand up before a trip or bringing the remainder back afterwards.
In the ordinary way, yes. The rand is one of 22 currencies handled at this counter and South Africa is a familiar destination for Sydney travellers. If the amount is substantial, or you want it broken into small notes for tipping, a call to (02) 8014 4222 beforehand lets it be checked and reserved.
R20s and R50s, in quantity. South Africa's cash economy is a tipping economy - petrol attendants, car guards, porters, guides - and none of it works with a R200 note. Keep a few R100s and R200s for hotel deposits and car hire, but the small stuff is what you will reach for several times a day.
Yes, at the counter, on whatever buy-back figure the calculator is displaying. Notes have to be in resaleable shape, because they are resold to the traveller who comes in after you, so torn, taped or heavily soiled rand may be declined. Both the 2023 upgraded notes and the earlier Mandela design count as current rand.
Yes. Those three form the Common Monetary Area with South Africa, and rand is legal tender in all of them; their own currencies - the Namibian dollar, the loti and the lilangeni - are pegged one-for-one to it. The arrangement runs one way, though: those three currencies are generally not accepted back inside South Africa, so spend them before you cross. Botswana and Zimbabwe sit outside the area.
Yes, in both directions. Australian law on money laundering and terrorism financing treats a money changer as a reporting entity, and customers have to be identified on certain transactions, so a driver licence or passport travels with you. Have it in hand at the window rather than buried in a bag and the whole thing stays brief.
Need a different currency?
Rand is one of 22 currencies we handle; the full rate board sets out where each of them sits today, buying and selling.
