WATCH: Rand's 2016 roller-coaster in under 90 secs

Cape Town - The rand is one of the most volatile currencies in the world, reacting sharply either way to especially local political developments and global events.

Just over a year ago, the local unit took a hit with the surprise axing of then Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, and since then currency investors experienced a rough ride with a myriad of factors, including international events, local political noise and macro-economic factors moving the rand.

The rand however remained resilient against the US dollar, and by 07:02 on Friday, the unit was trading at R14/$. This compares with R15.41 on that fatal December 9 when Nene was replaced by little known ANC MP David (Des) van Rooyen and R18 on January 12 this year when it suffered a flash crash amid an emerging market currency sell-off due to fears over the state of the Chinese economy.

WATCH: Rand's 2016 roller-coaster in under 90 secs

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