President Ramaphosa to attend the launch of the newly renovated South African Reserve Bank Museum

President Cyril Ramaphosa will this morning, Friday 19 June 2026 attend the launch of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Museum at the institution’s Head Office Campus in Pretoria. 
 
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. This will further serve to bring the institution closer to the public, fostering greater engagement and trust. 
 
It will have a dedicated school outreach programme, deepening financial and economic literacy in the country alongside the SARB’s flagship Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Schools Challenge. This programme is aimed at inspiring learners to pursue careers in economics and central banking by challenging them to write and present their own MPC statements. 
 
The SARB Museum traces the country’s economic heritage, exploring how ideas of money, value, trust and institution-building have evolved over time – from early forms of exchange to the central bank’s establishment in 1921 and its role in a democratic South Africa. 
 
The museum houses archaeological items dating back 75 000 years, a numismatic collection spanning over 300 years and South Africa’s first minting press from 1891. 

Alongside specialised exhibitions, the SARB Museum also features two art galleries showcasing the institution’s extensive collection. 
 
The museum will have rotating exhibitions, making the collection of more than 1 200 artworks accessible to the public for the first time since the SARB’s establishment. It will also feature permanent installations by legendary South African artists Esther Mahlangu, Helen Sebidi and Mary Sibande, commissioned by the SARB. 
 
The launch of the SARB Museum coincides with Youth Month, which was marked by the release of a new R2 circulation coin commemorating 50 years since the 1976 Youth Uprising. 
 
The coin is part of a 2026 commemorative series centred around education. In August, the SARB will release a R2 commemorative coin celebrating the 125th anniversary of Charlotte Maxeke becoming the first black South African woman to graduate with a university degree. 

To mark 30 years since the country’s Constitution was signed into law, the SARB will release another R2 coin celebrating the right to education enshrined in the Constitution. The SARB will also release a R5 education tribute coin, which will feature the concepts of all three R2 coins: the Youth Uprising, Charlotte Maxeke and the Constitution. 
 
The Launch will take place as follows:
Date: Friday,19 June 2026
Time: 10H00
Venue: South African Reserve Bank Campus, Pretoria 

Accreditation enquiries: Media@resbank.co.za.

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to President Ramaphosa – media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria