The South African Bank Note company (SABN) has dismissed reports that its new R20 note has been counterfeited, saying forgers could not possibly match the technology required to produce the currency.
”Even if they managed to get a semblance of accuracy, they would not even get the feel of the paper right,” said SABN managing director Peter Gloster at Parliament on Monday.
Speaking at Parliament in Cape Town, where his company is hosting a display of South Africa’s newly-released R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200 banknotes, he said counterfeiters were ”just not up to the job”.
He was reacting to news reports claiming the new R20 note has been forged.
The Citizen newspaper on Monday featured a front-page photograph of a man holding up a supposedly forged note.
Gloster said his company, along with the South African Reserve Bank, would like to see responsibility for checking the authenticity of banknotes removed from them and placed in the hands of the user.
”That is why we are educating the public with displays like this, and road shows. We want them to know how to detect a fake bank note.”
The new notes contained a range of new and improved anti-counterfeiting measures, he said.
Gloster said one aspect of the banknotes that appeared to have made most people happy is that all 11 official languages appear on the new currency.
The least-used languages are printed on the new R10 and R20 notes, while the more prominent languages such as Zulu and Xhosa appear on the larger denominations.
In a statement on Monday, the SARB said community information sessions were set to take place in remote areas of the country, to ensure everyone knew about the new banknotes.
Educational dramas, with information about the banknote’s improved security features, would be broadcast in the 11 official languages over both national and community radio stations, the central bank said. – Sapa