Pretoria — Cabinet has welcomed the new bank notes, released into circulation by the South African Reserve Bank this week.

"They present our currency as a unique symbol of our nationhood and honour our struggle icon and first democratically elected President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela," said Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane on Friday.

He was briefing media following Cabinet's ordinary meeting on Wednesday.

The new notes, which officially came into use of Tuesday, bear the face of Mandela and will replace the old banknotes.

Some of the changes on the notes include a watermark and a rolling bar. The idea behind it is if the note is lifted to the light, it has a raised print and an image of the "big five" behind it.

Cabinet encouraged all South Africans to familiarise themselves with the security features of the new notes so they would be able to identify their authenticity, he added.