R50 buys a round

POLOKWANE – Recent weeks have seen an increase in the circulation of counterfeit R50 notes in the city.

Especially pubs or drinking holes in and around the city are targeted, with several owners reporting the incidents to Review.

Often, it is only detected that these notes are counterfeit during the cashing up process.

One business owner said he only found out of the counterfeit notes when using the notes to buy stock.

This, he said, could see business owners on the wrong side of the law, as they unknowingly use the notes illegally.

Some business owners even told Review they were not sure what to do with the counterfeit notes, and simply reuse the notes.

“I just did not know how to deal with the money in my possession and did not know how I would explain to the police where I got the money,” one pub owner said, anonymously.

The notes can be identified by the security strip that can be completely removed from the notes and the watermark is either upside down, or missing.

Polokwane police spokesperson Capt Ntobeng Phala said that business owners should familiarise themselves with the methods of spotting counterfeit notes.

The procedure to follow is to call the police and where possible, contact a community policing forum sector manager who can assist in contacting the police.

“The money will then be taken to be tested. It is important for residents to know that if they should knowingly make use of the money, they are breaking the law and can be charged for dealing in counterfeit money.

Well-established security features on South African bank notes help make the recognition of the real bank notes easy, these include:

• A watermark formed within the paper – when held up to the light, the image is visible and will not produce on colour copiers;

• A security thread running through the banknote paper – a special thread is woven into the paper.

On the front appears a silvery stripe.

When held up to direct light, it appears as a continuous line on which the letters “SARB” can be seen.

• High quality paper – The public report that they recognise a banknote as a counterfeit by the texture of the paper.

• Print quality – the fineness of the print quality on a genuine banknote is difficult for current scanning equipment to resolve properly. Intaglio printing, where thick ink lends a raised surface to the print surface, is difficult to reproduce cheaply.

• The latest design features and technologies are constantly monitored and applied where applicable.

• Hold the banknote up to direct light and you will see its safety features.