The South African Reserve Bank has a museum
· The South African
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) now houses a museum.
It includes items dating to the Middle Palaeolithic period, when stone-age dwellers were first trading goods and services in what is now South Africa.
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The opening on Friday, 19 June 2026, came with speeches from President Cyril Ramaphosa and Governor of the Bank, Lesetja Kganyago.
The museum’s construction is part of a R3.6 billion redevelopment investment for the oldest central bank in Africa.
Why SARB needed renovation
The new Reserve Bank Museum is an opportunity to teach the South African public about the central bank and its monetary system.
Speaking at the event, Kganyago joked about common misconceptions about the bank’s operations in South Africa.
“Mr President,” he said, “there are people who write to us asking why our currency is printed overseas, despite the South African Mint and South African Bank Note Company being based right here in Gauteng.”
He added that many people still imagine reserve banks hiding gold bars in deep vaults.
Part of the museum’s place is to correct such errors. But it is also about educating the public on why monetary policy is so important to any economy.
With school visits and their Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) schools challenge, Kganyago hopes to inspire the next generation of central bankers.
Ramaphosa, in his own address, mirrored this. He stated they “expect the museum to deepen financial literary and economic literary in society.
The practical needs of an upgrade for SARB
The museum is part of a redevelopment around the SARB head offices in Pretoria.
Quite fittingly for the monetary institution that, in modern South African history, has rarely fallen prey to massive corruption scandals, its head office has not seen any upgrades in over forty years.
Internal surveys run by SARB found a need for “more open and collaborative workspaces, a requirement that has become more urgent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the SARB’s shift to a hybrid work environment.”
They go on to say that the redevelopment and the construction of the museum will be an investment to bolster the local Tshwane city centre.
The SARB museum collection
The SARB museum promises to be fun for numismatic enthusiasts and laypeople alike.
Fittingly, it will include an archaeological collection dating back 75 000 years. Some are from major South African historic sites like Mapungubwe.
There will be a coin collection spanning 300 years of coinage in Southern Africa, as well as the first minting press used back in 1891.
There will be displays of roughly 1200 artworks by local South African artists currently housed in the SARB collection.
This is part of the bid to make the museum as accessible as possible to the public.
And if anything, it confirms that the SARB engages with more than potential interest rate hike announcements.
This is also part of the SARB’s investment in South African art.
Kganyago notes that “For the first time since the establishment of this institution, the public will have an opportunity to see our extensive corporate art collection, capturing the depth, diversity and richness of artistic expression in South Africa.”
They are currently displaying works by Esther Mahlangu, Helen Sebidi, and Mary Sibande.
Best of all are the interactive exhibitions. This includes exhibits that let visitors take on the role of a policymaker to make simulated economic decisions.
SARB museum details
The museum forms part of the newly renovated Reserve Bank complex.
It is scheduled to be open to the public in the coming days.