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58-534: Alfred County Railway is an abandoned 2 ft ( 610 mm ) narrow gauge railway in South Africa , which runs from the southern transport hub of Port Shepstone on the Indian Ocean , via Izotsha and Paddock for 122 kilometres (76 mi) to Harding, KwaZulu-Natal . South Africa, rich in natural resources and fertile lands, has many areas that are ideal for agricultural production. However,

116-566: A 28% shareholding, which gave users greater confidence in the PSACR service. The "Narrow Arrow" piggyback train was introduced for supply to the Port Shepstone pulp mill, where an entire train of 26 narrow gauge wagons was ramped onto a Spoornet train consisting of 13 wagons, having flexible connecting bridges. This eliminated the trans-shipping of timber at Port Shepstone and reduced transfer time from 14 hours to two hours. A further endeavour

174-462: A 50 rand introduced in 1984. This series had only one language variant for each denomination of note. Afrikaans was the first language on the 2, 10, and 50 rand, while English was the first on the 5 and 20 rand. A coin replaced the 1 rand note. In the 1990s, the notes were redesigned with images of the Big Five wildlife species. 10, 20, and 50 rand notes were introduced in 1992 & 1993, retaining

232-671: A fuel saving of 25% compared to a standard SAR Class NG G16 Garratt, and was easily maintained in regular service. Initially, the venture lost money heavily, but after making profits from year three, the venture decided to try to return to an all-steam powered railway. The tourism based passenger train , the Banana Express, had always been steam powered, while the advantages of power and a short wheelbase meant that PSACR decided to lease SAR 91 Class diesels to provide hauling for commercial freight services. The revived PSACR became Spoornet 's second largest customer at Port Shepstone. This

290-443: A gradual decline, eventually failing in 2001 when it lost the key Port Shepstone "Narrow Arrow" wood pulping contract, due to unreliability problems resulting from labour relation issues at Spoornet. Suspending freight operations, the line continued to operate the Banana Express, but accumulated huge debts to Spoornet. As a result of these increasing debts, Transnet decided to legally force the venture into bankruptcy in 2004. After

348-517: A move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings, and pence; it submitted its recommendations on 8 August 1958. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 rand to 1 pound, or 10 shillings to the rand. The government introduced a mascot, Decimal Dan, "the rand-cent man" (known in Afrikaans as Daan Desimaal). This was accompanied by a radio jingle to inform

406-457: Is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. In English and Afrikaans (and Dutch), the singular and plural forms of the unit ("rand") are the same: one rand, ten rand, and two million rand. The rand was introduced in the Union of South Africa in 1961, three months before the country declared itself a republic . A Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider

464-659: Is highly susceptible to global investor sentiment as the country relies on foreign money to cover its large budget and current account deficits." On 13 November 2017, the rand fell by over 1% when the budget chief, Michael Sachs, stood down from his position in Zuma's administration. In October 2022, the rand sank to its lowest point in two years, reaching R18.46 to the US dollar on 25 October 2022. Coins were introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1 ⁄ 2 , 1, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 , 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents. In 1965, 2-cent coins replaced

522-674: The 1 ft  11 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ( 603 mm ) gauge Brecon Mountain Railway . South African rand The South African rand , or simply the rand , ( sign : R ; code : ZAR ) is the official currency of South Africa . It is subdivided into 100 cents (sign: "c"), and a comma separates the rand and cents. The South African rand is legal tender in the Common Monetary Area member states of Namibia , Lesotho , and Eswatini , with these three countries also having national currencies: (the dollar ,

580-425: The 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 cent coins. The 1 ⁄ 2 cent coin was last struck for circulation in 1973. The 1 rand coin for circulation was introduced in 1967, followed by 2 rand coins in 1989 and 5 rand coins in 1994. Production of the 1 and 2-cent coins was discontinued in 2002, followed by 5-cent coins in 2012, primarily due to inflation having devalued them, but they remain legal tender. Shops normally round

638-461: The EURion constellation to all five denominations. They were entered into circulation on 6 November 2013. On 18 July 2018, a special commemorative series of banknotes was released in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's birth. This series includes notes of all denominations, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. These notes will circulate alongside the existing notes. The notes depict

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696-744: The EURion constellation . The obverses of all denominations were printed in English, while two other official languages were printed on the reverse, thus using all 11 official languages of South Africa . In 2010, the South African Reserve Bank and commercial banks withdrew all 1994 series 200-rand banknotes due to relatively high-quality counterfeit notes in circulation. In 2011, the South African Reserve Bank issued defective 100 rand banknotes which lacked fluorescent printing visible under UV light . In June,

754-480: The Government of South Africa announced it would gradually put into private hands its huge state-owned corporations, including the state electricity corporation, Eskom , and SA Transport Services which owned SAR. The Alfred County Railway was hence chosen as the pilot railway privatisation project. In reality, SAR/Transnet still owned the line, infrastructure and the stock as a nationally strategic asset; while

812-672: The SAR 's longer routes, which were more powerful. Also, being shorter in chassis length, these diesel-electric locomotives were able to access the growers' farms. Therefore, the SAR decided to transfer the NG G13 and NG G16 Garratts to the Alfred County Railway in Natal . Due to underinvestment, the Alfred County Railway became increasingly unreliable, and was closed to operations by

870-707: The South African Class NG15 2-8-2 locomotives started their career on the 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge. The Otavi Mining and Railway Company in South West Africa (now Namibia ) were transferred to the 2 ft gauge railways in South Africa and currently some surviving locomotives reside in Wales on the 1 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 597 mm ) gauge Welsh Highland Railway and

928-646: The economic slowdown in China , South Africa's largest export market. By mid-January, economists were speculating that the rand could expect to see further volatility for the rest of 2016. By 29 April, it reached its highest performance over the previous five months, exchanging at a rate of R14.16 to the United States dollar. Following the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union,

986-521: The loti and the lilangeni respectively) pegged with the rand at parity and still widely accepted as substitutes. The rand was also legal tender in Botswana until 1976 when the pula replaced the rand at par. The rand takes its name from the Witwatersrand ("white waters' ridge" in English, rand being the Afrikaans (and Dutch ) word for ' ridge '), the ridge upon which Johannesburg

1044-621: The Banana Express are stored at Paddock Hamba Wehelle Express In 2015 a short section of the railway line - between Paddock and Plains - was in use and a limited tourist service was being provided using a light weight carriage and an industrial Hunslet diesel locomotive The service is known as the Hamba Wehelle Express (or Humba Weheli Express) and was operated in conjunction with the Gorgez View Bed and Breakfast/Conference Centre/Coffee Shop at Paddock however by 2016

1102-761: The French Maginot Line and Alpine Line also used 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways for supply routes to the fixed border defenses. Australia has over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge sugar cane railway networks in the coastal areas of Queensland , which carry more than 30 million tonnes of sugar cane a year. Many 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge and 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways are used in amusement parks and theme parks worldwide. The interchange of rolling stock between these similar track gauges occasionally occurred; for example,

1160-447: The R2 level most of the time and breaking beneath it sporadically. The recovery was short-lived; by the end of 1989, the rand was trading at more than R2.50 per dollar. As it became clear in the early 1990s that the country was destined for Black majority rule and one reform after the other was announced, uncertainty about the country's future hastened the depreciation until the level of R3 to

1218-422: The SAR in 1986. As South Africa's farmers re-entered the global markets in the late 1980s, the quality of produce going to markets became increasingly important. As handling is a key issue in the retail quality of bananas in particular, the farmers were in favour of reviving the Alfred County Railway, to reduce the amount of handling from banana plantation to port. To raise funds and reduce government expenditure,

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1276-954: The South African Reserve Bank announced that a new series of coins would be released. These will have the same denominations as the previous series. The 10c will feature an image of the Cape Honey Bee, the 20c the Bitter Aloe, the 50c the Knysna Turaco , the R1 the Springbok , the R2 the King Protea , and the R5 the Southern Right Whale . The first series of rand banknotes was introduced in 1961 in denominations of 1, 2, 10, and 20 rand, with similar designs and colours to

1334-514: The South African authorities. By the early 1980s, high inflation and mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country due to international opposition to the apartheid system had started to erode its value. The currency broke above parity with the dollar for the first time in March 1982. It continued to trade between R1 and R1.30 to the dollar until June 1984, when

1392-456: The agricultural Harding district to Port Shepstone, the NGR commissioned Stoke-on-Trent based Kerr Stuart to build seven Class NG4 4-6-2T tank locomotives, based on the 1907 Class NG3 4-6-2T . The route of the Alfred County Railway had some curves of 45 metres (147.6 ft), but with gradients of up to 3 in 100 / 3% ( ruling grade of 1 in 37 / 2.7% for 20 miles or 32 kilometres after leaving

1450-490: The coast), the NG4s and their replacements were often double-headed to haul the diverse freight traffic of wood , sugar cane and bananas to Port Shepstone. The line's management decided against purchasing more powerful articulated Garratt locomotives, because their longer wheelbase would make access to the sugar cane fields more difficult. From the mid-1970s, steam was replaced by Class 91-000 diesel-electric locomotives on

1508-422: The colour scheme of the previous issue. Coins were introduced for the 2 and 5 rand, replacing the notes of the previous series, mainly because of the severe wear and tear experienced with low-denomination notes in circulation. In 1994, 100 and 200 rand notes were introduced. The 2005 series has the same principal design but with additional security features, such as colour-shifting ink on the 50 rand and higher and

1566-471: The currency's depreciation gained momentum. By February 1985, it was trading at over R2 per dollar, and in July of that year, all foreign exchange trading was suspended for three days to try to stop the depreciation. By the time that State President P. W. Botha made his Rubicon speech on 15 August 1985, it had weakened to R2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat between 1986 and 1988, trading near

1624-528: The debt and corruption of Eskom Holdings was the biggest risk to South Africa's economy and the exchange rate of the rand. At the time, it had no permanent CEO, and Colin Coleman of Goldman Sachs in Africa said the company was "having discussions on solutions" on finding credible management. In October 2017, the rand firmed against the US dollar as it recovered from a six-month low. Reuters noted, "South Africa

1682-435: The dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006, however, the currency resumed its rally and, as of 19 January 2006, was trading under R6 to the dollar again. However, the rand weakened significantly during the second and third quarters of 2006 (i.e., April through September). In sterling terms, it fell from around 9.5% to just over 7%, losing some 25% of its international trade-weighted value in six months. In late 2007,

1740-504: The dollar was breached in November 1992. A host of local and international events influenced the currency after that, most notably the 1994 general election , which had it weaken to over R3.60 to the dollar, the election of Tito Mboweni as the governor of the South African Reserve Bank , and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999, which had it quickly slide to over R6 to the dollar. The controversial land reform programme that

1798-504: The government, transport regulations were further relaxed to allow a higher gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 56 tonnes (55 long tons; 62 short tons), a higher axle load from 8.2 and 9.0 long tons (8.3 and 9.1 t), together with a 5% overload tolerance: the highest heavy vehicle mass with unlimited access to the roads of any country in the world. As a result, Spoornet began to lose general freight traffic, and PSACR's reliance on trans-shipment increased transport times and costs. The railway began

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1856-654: The line to Harding, in December 2005 Transnet shut the Banana Express, after they decreed a lease did not exist between SAR and PCNGR. On 18 June 2008 a huge storm hit the coast, which resulted in large amounts of flash flooding . This damaged many of the railway's bridges along the Hibiscus Coast so that they were considered to be beyond economic repair, and washed most of the Izotsha rail bridges away. Several steam locomotives and several carriages that were used on

1914-495: The new Port Shepstone and Alfred County Railway (PSACR) was granted an operational and maintenance lease for a period of 199 years. The company inherited 25 steam locomotives - of which only one, an NG G16, was operational - plus rolling stock. The company announced a business plan expected to win back lucrative business from farmers and timber growers. In March 1988, the PSACR raised funds by offering 1.8 million shares for sale at one rand each. As part of their development to keep

1972-467: The notes printed in Sweden were not the correct colour and were 1mm short. On 11 February 2012, President Jacob Zuma announced that the country would be issuing a new set of banknotes bearing Nelson Mandela 's image. They were entered into circulation on 6 November 2012. These contained the same denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand. In 2013, the 2012 series was updated with the addition of

2030-405: The preceding pound notes to ease the transition. They bore the image of what was believed at the time to be Jan van Riebeeck , the first VOC administrator of Cape Town . It was later discovered that the original portrait was not, in fact, Van Riebeeck at all, but a portrait of Bartholomew Vermuyden had been mistaken for Van Riebeeck. In 1966, a second series with designs that moved away from

2088-481: The previous pound notes was released. Notes with 1, 5, and 10 rand denominations were produced with predominantly one colour per note. A smaller 1 rand note with the same design was introduced in 1973, and a 2 rand note was introduced in 1974. The 20 rand denomination from the first series was dropped. The practice of having an English and an Afrikaans version of each note was continued in this series. The 1978 series began with denominations of 2, 5, 10, and 20 rand, with

2146-578: The printing of this denomination was moved from the South African Bank Note Company to Crane Currency's Swedish division ( Tumba Bruk ), which reportedly produced 80 million 100 rand notes. The South African Reserve Bank shredded 3.6 million 100-rand banknotes printed by Crane Currency because they had the same serial numbers as a batch printed by the South African Bank Note Company. In addition,

2204-520: The produce from the sorting and packing points to the coastal ports. Their choice of gauge was determined by the gauge that was being used in each local area and varied between the early 1 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 597 mm ) to the later Cape gauge of 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Designed as part of the Natal Government Railways' (NGR) project to transport sugar cane and bananas grown in

2262-648: The public about the new currency. Although pronounced in the Afrikaans style as / r ʌ n t / in the jingles when introduced, the contemporary pronunciation in South African English is / r æ n d / . One rand was worth US$ 1.40 (R0.72 per dollar) from the time of its inception in 1961 until late 1971, and the U.S. dollar became stronger than South African currency for the first time on 15 March 1982. Its value thereafter fluctuated as various exchange rate dispensations were implemented by

2320-469: The railway competitive, the PSACR upgraded two of their existing Class NG G16 locomotives. The engineers incorporated developments proposed by L.D. Porta , including GPCS, Lempor exhaust, an improved spark arrestor, lightweight multi-ring articulated piston valves, improved valve events and improved mechanical lubrication. Two locomotives were modified: No. 141 in 1989 and No. 155 in 1990, and reclassified to Class NG G16A . In comparative testing No. 141 gave

2378-456: The rand "averaged R4.97 to the dollar between 1972–2015, reaching an all time high of R12.45 in December 2001 and a record low of R0.67 in June of 1973." By the end of 2014, the rand had weakened to R15.05 per dollar, partly due to South Africa's consistent trade account deficit with the rest of the world. From 9–13 December 2015, over four days, the rand dropped over 10% due to what some suspected

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2436-520: The rand dropped in value over 8% against the US$ on 24 June 2016, the currency's largest single-day decline since the 2008 economic crash. This was partly due to a general global financial retreat from currencies seen as risky to the US dollar and partly due to concerns over how British withdrawal from the EU would impact the South African economy and trade relations. In April 2017, a Reuters poll estimated that

2494-419: The rand rallied modestly to just over 8%, only to experience a precipitous slide during the first quarter of 2008. This downward slide could be attributed to a range of factors: South Africa's worsening current account deficit, which widened to a 36‑year high of 7.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007; inflation at a five-year high of just under 9%; escalating global risk aversion as investors' concerns over

2552-476: The rand slid to R11.25 to the dollar, with analysts attributing the shift to "word from the US Federal Reserve that it would trim back stimulus spending, which led to a massive sell-off in emerging economies." In 2014, South Africa experienced its worst year against the US dollar since 2009, and in March 2015, the rand traded at its worst since 2002. At the time, Trading Economics released data that

2610-486: The rand would remain relatively stable for the rest of the year, as two polls found that analysts had already factored in a possible downgrade to "junk" status. At the time, Moody's rated South Africa two notches above junk status. When President Jacob Zuma narrowly won a motion of no confidence in South Africa in August 2017, the rand continued to slide, dropping 1.7% that day. In September 2017, Goldman Sachs said that

2668-403: The rand, and the exchange rate was volatile throughout much of January 2016 and reached an all-time low of R17.9169 to the US dollar on 9 January 2016 before rebounding to R16.57 later the same day. The January drop in value was also partly caused by Japanese retail investors cutting their losses in the currency to look for higher-yield investments elsewhere and due to concerns over the impact of

2726-503: The scenery and the access to local businesses. Before reaching Shelley Beach the railway traversed several river bridges along the Hibiscus Coast. The train then veered inland and chugged up through banana plantations and cane fields towards Izotsha, passed through lush sub-tropical native forests and rondavel -dotted hillsides, before stopping in Paddock for lunch and then the direct return journey. Although PCNGR had proposals to reopen

2784-661: The service was suspended 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways Most of these lines are tourist lines, which are often heritage railways or industrial lines, such as the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales and the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado . World War I trench railways produced the greatest concentration of 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways to date. In preparation for World War II ,

2842-491: The site where Mandela was captured near Howick , following 17 months in hiding, where a monument to him has been erected (50 rand); the place of Mandela's 27-year imprisonment at Robben Island , showing a pile of quarried limestone (100 rand); the statue of Mandela at the Union Buildings in remembrance of when he was inaugurated there in 1994 (200 rand). On 3 May 2023, the South African Reserve Bank announced that

2900-453: The spreading impact of the sub-prime crisis grew; and a general flight to "safe havens", away from the perceived risks of emerging markets. The rand depreciation was exacerbated by the Eskom electricity crisis, which arose from the utility's inability to meet the country's rapidly growing energy demands. A stalled mining industry in late 2012 led to new lows in early 2013. In late January 2014,

2958-589: The standard face of Nelson Mandela on the obverse. Still, instead of the Big Five animals on the reverse, they show a younger Mandela with different iconic scenes relating to his legacy. These scenes comprise the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape , featuring Mandela's humble birthplace of Mvezo (10 rand); the home of Mandela in Soweto , where he defined his political life alongside other struggle icons (20 rand);

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3016-452: The steep mountainous terrain between the resource rich areas in the high veld and the coastal ports presented a transport challenge. Before well maintained and reliable access roads had been developed, narrow gauge railways were used extensively by South African farmers to move produce from their large farms to central sorting and packing points on their own land. As a result, entrepreneurial business people created linking railways to transport

3074-470: The termination of the PSACR lease, Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway (PCNGR) was granted a temporary permit to continue running the Banana Express, from Port Shepstone to Paddock. The company had three locomotives available to it: NGG16 Nos.151 and 127; plus an ex-sugar estate 0-4-0T, SAR NG UVE2. With a 6-hour journey totally devoted to tourism and enabling access to local attractions and businesses, it again became very popular with tourists because of both

3132-593: The total purchase price of goods to the nearest 10 cents. To curb counterfeiting, a new 5-rand coin was released in August 2004. Security features introduced on the coin include a bimetal design (similar to the €1 and €2 coins , the Thai ฿10 coin , the pre-2018 Philippine ₱10 coin , the British £2 coin , and the Canadian $ 2 coin ), a specially serrated security groove along the rim and microlettering. On 3 May 2023,

3190-542: Was President Jacob Zuma's surprise announcement that he would be replacing the Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with the little-known David van Rooyen . The rapid drop in value stemmed when Zuma backtracked and announced that the better-known previous Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan , would instead be appointed to the post. Zuma's surprise sacking of Nene damaged international confidence in

3248-546: Was driven by the operations of Kulu Lime and the Natal Portland Cement, plus pulpwood, poplar logs (for matchwood ), creosoted telegraph poles , and manufactured wooden items from Harding. North bound inland traffic was general cargo for the farmers, such as maize , fertilizer , salt , cement , farm implements and water tanks and small parcels. The company also revived the Banana Express. In 1991 Spoornet acquired one-million shares in PSACR, equivalent to

3306-553: Was initiated in Zimbabwe , followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks , propelled it to its weakest historical level of R13.84 to the dollar in December 2001. This sudden depreciation in 2001 led to a formal investigation and a dramatic recovery. By the end of 2002, the currency was trading under R9 to the dollar again, and by the end of 2004, it was trading under R5.70. The currency softened somewhat in 2005, trading around R6.35 to

3364-447: Was the "Timbertainer," an intermodal system where pulpwood could be loaded into an open container at a plantation and taken through to the mill. Plans were in place for a similar initiative for sugar cane shipments. However, by the mid-1990s the effects of transport deregulation began to impact of the profitability of the PSACR as larger, often overloaded, road trucks becoming ever more competitive. Although Spoornet made representations to

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