*  *  The establishment of the Reserve Bank  The South African Reserve Bank was established in 1921 as the central bank of South Africa in terms of a special act of Parliament.
The founding of the Reserve Bank was the direct result of disruptions caused by the First World War and formed part of a more comprehensive set of measures meant to deal with unsatisfactory monetary and financial conditions. At that time, the existence of central banks was still not common, and the South African Reserve Bank was only the fourth central bank founded outside Europe.