What does the name of South Africa’s rand refer to?

The name of South Africa’s rand refers to the Witwatersrand.

The Witwatersrand is a ridge and geological formation in Gauteng associated with major gold deposits. The word “rand” is an abbreviated form of Witwatersrand, and the currency was named after this region because of its central role in South Africa’s mining economy.

The South African rand was introduced in 1961, the year South Africa became a republic and left the Commonwealth. It replaced the South African pound at a conversion of two rand to one pound. The rand’s international currency code is ZAR, based on the Dutch name Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand.

The rand is also legal tender in the Common Monetary Area, which links South Africa with Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini. Those countries issue their own currencies, but their monetary arrangements keep them closely connected to the rand.