Can stores refuse your 5c coins?
Some charities have even begun to refuse 5c coins as donations.
HAVE you had your copper coins refused at a store and wondered if shops are, by law, allowed to refuse anything you believe to be ‘legal tender’?
A reader, E J Joao Luiz from Westville, recently asked if retailers are allowed to refuse 5c coins. “Checkers and PnP, among others, do not and will not accept 5c coins which are still legal tender,” said Luiz in a letter to the editor. “Are they legally entitled/allowed to do so and if so, this is certainly not legitimate.”
Meanwhile, some charities have even begun to refuse 5c coins as donations.
According to a tweet by the SA Reserve Bank SARB), there are limits to how many coins may be used for each transaction.
In a tweet dated 26 February last year, SARB cleared up what the law says on this matter.
“Many South Africans wonder if the 10c and 20c pieces are still legal tender. They are and should be accepted as payment for any goods and services. However, there are limits to how many coins may be used per transaction” tweeted the SARB in February 2018 along with a graphic showing stacks of coins which could be accepted for particular amounts as per section 17 (2) (b) of the South African Reserve Bank Act of 1989. (https://twitter.com/SAReserveBank/status/968088053687488513).
SARB said that all businesses are obliged to accept up to 50 cents per transaction even if they are made up of lower denomination coins including the 1c and 2c coins, as well as the 5c pieces.
For the higher value coins, businesses can only refuse to accept 10c, 20c and 50c coins if they make up more than R5 in total. Similarly, amounts of more than R50 per transaction in R1, R2 and R5 coins also have to be accepted
According to a customer service manager at Queensburgh Pick n Pay, Lindiwe Mkhize, customers are still able to use their coins at the store.
“My front line manager, Dianne Govender, said if the customer comes with lots of 5c coins, we still take them. But we are not circulating those coins. We send it straight to the bank because it is still valid,” explained Mkhize.
Meanwhile, Checkers head office said: “The supermarket chain would like to tender an apology to the customer who experienced incidents where 5c coins weren’t accepted as payment in its stores. Five cent coins are indeed still classified as legal tender.”
The communications department also asked that any customer who has similar experiences in the future bring the matter to the attention of the branch manager immediately.
In fact, the law states that all coins currently being circulated in South Africa are considered legal tender, even if they are no longer being minted.
The five cent coil stopped being minted in 2012, while the 1 and 2 cent coins stopped being made 10 years earlier.
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