The R500 note design was posted last week on the Twitter account @ReservebankSA with the caption, "The first sample of our proposed new Five Hundred Rand note," and same language for a separate post of the R10 coin.

The image and tagline used on the Twitter account were identical to those on the actual Reserve Bank account, which had been established in April 2021. The fact that it had fewer followers (633 at last count) than the genuine thing (more than 100,000) and that it was not a verified Twitter account were the only immediately noticeable indications that it was fake.

The eye-catching R10 coin design is from 2017 and is from the second batch of colored collector coins produced by the South African Mint. The coin, which sold at R895, was definitely not intended for widespread use.

The sleek R500 design, which dates to 2008, was used in a hoax 2009 report that South Africa was about to adopt the R500 note.

Three years after its debut, Twitter had a comparatively small user base in South Africa at the time, and the fictitious allegation was spread via email.

The Reserve Bank said it is continually evaluating the need for currency modifications, and while a R10 coin may make sense, it does not currently believe that money users are ready for one. On the other hand, an R500 bill,