The story starts in the sixties.

The rand first saw the light of day in 1961 when South Africa became a republic and dropped the SA pound in favour of a decimal currency. The debut rate was a healthy R2 to sterling.

For the next 20 years, the rand was worth more than the US dollar largely because of South Africa’s enormous gold reserves and good economic management by minority Afrikaans governments.

But in the furore over apartheid policies, international trade sanctions progressively hit the rand and fast-rising inflation made things worse. By 1989, the rate slipped to R2.50 to the dollar.

As uncertainty grew over the republic’s future under black majority rule, the currency began a long decline. By 1995, after the election that put Nelson Mandela in power, the rate breached R3.60 to the dollar. By 1999, it stood at over R6.

Destabilised by unrest in Zimbabwe and fears about the future of sub-Saharan Africa, the currency collapsed to its low point of R13.84 to the dollar in early 2001.

Then suddenly, deeper into the new millenium, things started to pick up as the worst fears of South Africa-watchers proved too pessimistic. By late 2002, the currency improved to R9 to the dollar and by early 2006 to R6.

But nothing’s permanent in the world of foreign exchange. Amid renewed doubts about the economy and fears for emerging markets in the wake of the global financial crisis, the rand lost favour all over again. In October 2008, the month of the collapse of Lehman Bros, it sank to its nadir of R14.87 against the admittedly powerful euro.

And in the last two years? Another reversal. With the World Cup serving as something of a catalyst, the rand has improved steadily, especially since mid-2009. Against the euro, for example, it stood at better than R9.50 throughout the event.

And all that spending by football fans should make the rand stronger. According to a Grant Thornton study back in 2003 when South Africa bid for the World Cup, the event should deliver about R21bn ($2.74bn) for the economy as a whole.