South African rand (ZAR) exchange rate today — official vs market
South Africa · South African rand (ZAR). Official rate as of Sep 22, 2026 · Market data fetched Sep 23, 4:20 AM GMT. All rates = units of local currency per 1 US dollar.
Official (per $1)16.2418reference · ECB reference rates (via Frankfurter API)
Market (per $1)17.5parallel · Bybit P2P
Premium vs official+7.75%Market vs official (positive = market weaker)
Coveragelive
Central bank policy rate7.00%Policy rate (repo) · South African Reserve Bank · effective 2026-05-29 · source
Premium history
21 observed days · Aug 25 – Sep 22 · no interpolation
7-day change+7.66 pp
Min / max (observed range)-14% / 14%
Volatility (std dev of daily premium)8.7%
Continent rank7th widest of 54
Context
The South African rand currently trades at a premium of +7.75% — the 7th widest gap of the 54 African currencies we track. That places it in the friction band (2–10%), where spreads often reflect liquidity, fees, or access costs rather than acute scarcity.