The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial conditions which World War I had brought. The SARB was only the fourth central bank established outside the United Kingdom and Europe, the others being the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of Java. The earliest suggestions for the establishment of the Central Bank in South Africa date back to 1879. A select committee, of ten members of Parliament, was established on 31 March 1920 to examine the benefits to the national interest of the establishing of the central bank.^[3]

Following on the recommendations of the committee, the South African Reserve Bank opened for business on 30 June 1921, making it the oldest central bank in Africa. The first banknotes were issued to the public by the Bank on 19 April 1922. Set of ZAR notes 2012 to present R 104 000 000 000.00 and Set of ZAR notes 2018 to present 400 000 000 print.

Unlike the Bank of England, which provided the model for establishing the SARB, the SARB is privately owned.^[1]

• Formulating and implementing monetary policy;
• Issuing banknotes and coin;
• Supervising the financial services sector;
• Ensuring the effective functioning of the national payment system (NPS);
• Managing official gold and foreign-exchange reserves;
• Acting as banker to the government – but not owned by South African Government.
• Administering the country's remaining exchange controls; and
• Acting as lender of last resort in exceptional circumstances.

• William Henry Clegg – December 1920 – December 1931^[6]
• Johannes Postmus – January 1932 – June 1945^[6]
• Michiel Hendrik de Kock – July 1945 – June 1962^[6]
• Gerhard Rissik – July 1962 – June 1967^[6]
• Theunis Willem de Jongh – July 1967 – December 1980^[6]
• Gerhard de Kock – January 1981 – August 1989^[6]
• Chris Stals – August 1989 – August 1999^[6]
• Tito Mboweni – August 1999 – November 2009^[6]
• Gill Marcus – November 2009 – November 2014^[6]
• Lesetja Kganyago – November 2014–

• South African pound
• South African rand
• BankservAfrica
• List of central banks of Africa
• List of central banks