Nelson Mandela bank notes to go into circulation The new notes featuring Mr Mandela on one side and the country's Big Five safari animals on the other, made their debut in the hands of Gill Marcus, the country's Reserve Bank governor, who used them to shop for groceries in the capital Pretoria on Tuesday. He is delighted, very excited about it. We did show him the designs, the drafts and everything else," she told South Africa's Press Association. Like Mr Mandela, the Reserve Bank governor said, the notes are designed to be "one of a kind" with special security features in a bit to avoid counterfeiting. They will be available from cash machines in the country from Tuesday. As with almost all things relating to Mr Mandela, the decision to feature the former president on banknotes has provided a universal moment of cheer in a gloomy South Africa plagued with concerns over protracted strikes, financial ratings downgrades and political strife. Tim Harris, the shadow minister of finance with the Democratic Alliance, said they were a "wonderful tribute to a great man." "It is fitting that South Africans should be reminded of the former president's legacy and his guiding principles as they save, invest and spend their money," he said. The only individual to previously feature on South African bank notes was Jan van Riebeeck, the first administrator of Cape Town with the Dutch East India Company. Since the 1990s, the notes have featured the Big Five wildlife species - the lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros.