THE South African Reserve Bank on Wednesday unveiled a commemorative R2 circulation coin and a limited edition R2 “crown size” sterling silver coin as part of a programme to celebrate the centenary year of the Union Buildings.
The Union Buildings, which took 1,265 artisans, workmen and labourers almost three years to construct ahead of their opening in 1913, are the seat of government.
“The Union Buildings have assumed different roles in our national heritage, from being a symbol of oppressive power to most recently being a place for all South Africans to mourn and celebrate one of our biggest heroes. The coin is a way for us to have a sense of what these buildings mean as part of our heritage,” the Bank’s governor Gill Marcus said at the unveiling ceremony.
The circulation coin will be introduced from early next year. Ms Marcus stressed that the circulatory coin was worth R2. “Don’t pay more for it,” she said.
On the front of the coin is the South African coat of arms and the year of issue with “South Africa” written in isiXhosa and Afrikaans. The back of the coin shows an image of the Union Buildings.
A collectors set, that also includes 20 commemorative postage stamps, will be available at the SA Mint and Coin World.
On Monday President Jacob Zuma unveiled a statue of Nelson Mandela. The 9m structure, the largest of the former president worldwide, stands on a site where the statue of former prime minister Barry Hertzog, who led the Union government from 1924-39, had stood.
The Union Buildings amphitheatre has been renamed after Mandela.
Earlier this week, the Economic Freedom Fighters said it rejected the centenary celebration of the Union Buildings and called for the seat of government to be renamed. “To celebrate the Union Buildings as ‘union’ is to celebrate history of black dispossession and exclusion,” spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
