The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has officially launched its public museum, offering visitors a unique insight into the country’s economic and financial history.
Speaking during the launch at the bank’s head office in Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the museum forms part of the SARB’s commitment to transparency and accountability, opening its work to the public to enhance understanding of the central bank’s role in the economy, and to view its extensive art collection.
The new museum is set to showcase South Africa’s economic history, from early systems of exchange to the establishment of the central bank in a democratic era, and will also feature art galleries from the SARB collection.
The President has also applauds the SARB for making the bank accessible to young people, helping them understand the economy and the value of money.
“Now through this museum, the bank is giving the public an opportunity to view its extensive art collection in an accessible way. And today, I also learned something. I also learned about the linkage between Mapungubwe and money, much as our Mapungubwe forebears were able to make those artifacts that they made, the rhino and all those coins that they made in pure gold. It never conjured in my head that this was like an exchange. They had an exchange of some sort, and they had a reservoir of all these things which a few of them were only found. But they acted like a central bank. Maybe if we dig back, Governor, we will find that in Mapungubwe, our really old civilisation, there was a central bank. They had gold bars. They had gold coins that they traded in. And in so doing, what you have really created here showcases the richness and the diversity of our artistic heritage, and I’m glad that you’ve linked it with our past Mapungubwe. You are also linking it with the performing arts, my sister, Hlophe.”
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago also address the event, which highlights the institution’s constitutional role in maintaining price stability and financial integrity.
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