JOHANNESBURG, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Wednesday released the designs of the commemorative banknotes of the late President Nelson Mandela ahead of its official release, after the designs surfaced on social media.
Mandela, if alive, would have turned 100 years old on July 18, 2018. SARB intended to launch several denominations of the local currency in commemoration of his birth centenary next month. The commemorative banknotes will cover R10, R20, R50, R100, R200 and a R5 coin.
SARB said in a statement that they had some test packs of the commemorative banknotes to make adequate preparations in relation to issues such as adaptions of cash processing and cash dispensing machines, ticketing machines.
"While these test packs were governed by strict confidentiality provisions, it has come to the SARB's attention that certain breaches have occurred, and as a result some of the designs have been circulating on social media."
SARB decided to release the designs "to avoid confusion."
The SARB will release more detailed security features at a later stage.
Mandela was the country's first democratically elected President in 1994 and he passed on in 2013.
