USD to ZAR Exchange Rate History — South Africa
This page charts the historical USD to South African Rand (ZAR) parallel — or "black market" — exchange rate in South Africa. As new readings are collected they appear in the chart and tables below, building a record of how the street price of the dollar has moved over time.
The rand is one of the most freely traded emerging-market currencies, so any "black market" gap is typically small and driven by global sentiment rather than controls.
How to read the ZAR rate history
The chart plots the parallel buy rate — how many ZAR it took to buy one US dollar — at each point we recorded. The daily table below lists the closing buy and sell rate for each day, while the monthly table summarises the average, high and low for each month, which is useful for comparing one period with another.
A rising line means the South African Rand is losing value (more ZAR per dollar); a falling line means it is gaining.
What has moved the South African Rand recently?
In South Africa, the parallel rate is driven by factors such as global risk sentiment, commodity-price swings, capital flows. When dollars become scarcer or confidence falls, the street rate climbs ahead of the official South African Reserve Bank (SARB) rate; when supply improves or policy tightens, the gap can narrow again.
Because the parallel rate often moves before official devaluations, its history is a useful early-warning record — a steadily rising trend frequently precedes an official adjustment, while a long plateau suggests relative stability.
Using historical ZAR rates
Historical rates help with budgeting, invoicing, remittance planning and spotting trends, but they are not a forecast — past movements do not guarantee future ones. For the live rate, see our main USD to ZAR page, and use the converter for exact amounts.
All figures are aggregated from P2P platforms, community reports and market monitoring, then refreshed hourly. They are provided for information and price-transparency only and are not financial advice.