Exchange rate during each president's tenure

Every president since 1991, ranked by how exchange rate changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

#	President	In office	Total	Per year	Chart
1	Nelson Mandela	10 May 1994 – 14 Jun 1999	+72.4% Apr 1994 → May 1999	+11.3%/yr
2	Cyril Ramaphosa	15 Feb 2018 – now	+35.6% Jan 2018 → Oct 2026	+3.5%/yr
3	Jacob Zuma	9 May 2009 – 15 Feb 2018	+35.3% Apr 2009 → Jan 2018	+3.5%/yr
4	Thabo Mbeki	14 Jun 1999 – 25 Sep 2008	+24.0% May 1999 → Aug 2008	+2.3%/yr

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last month complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that period had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. R per US dollar, monthly average · South African Reserve Bank, rand per US dollar (the weighted average of the banks' rates at about 10:30 each day), monthly average of the daily rates · South Africa data · as of Oct 2026.