What this page covers
The bond market is far larger than the equity market by turnover, but almost all of it is institutional. What is available to a retail investor is a narrow slice of it.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Instruments listed | Government, state-owned enterprise, corporate and municipal |
| Trading | Mostly over the counter, reported to the JSE |
| Settlement | T+3 |
| Quotation | By yield, not price |
| Minimum size | Institutional, typically R1 million nominal |
| Market makers | Primary dealers appointed by National Treasury |
| Route | Minimum | Liquidity | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSA Retail Savings Bonds | R1,000 | Restricted | Bought direct from Treasury, fixed or inflation linked |
| Bond ETF | One share | Daily | Tracks an index, full price risk |
| Bond unit trust | Varies | Daily | Actively managed, higher fees |
| Money market fund | Varies | Daily | Short duration, low price risk |
| Direct purchase | About R1 million | Poor | Through a broker, rarely practical |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Clean price | Price excluding accrued interest |
| Dirty price | Clean price plus accrued interest, what you pay |
| Coupon | The fixed annual rate, paid semi-annually |
| Yield to maturity | The return if held to maturity at that price |
| Modified duration | How much the price moves for a 1% yield change |
| Books closed | The period before a coupon when the register is fixed |
Download this data
Every table on this page as a spreadsheet, with the source and the date it was checked in the header rows.
⬇ Download CSVHow these figures work
The figures on this page come from the body that publishes them and change on a schedule rather than continuously, which is what makes them worth keeping in one place. A bond fund is not a safe alternative to cash. Duration means a fund holding long bonds can fall several percent when yields rise a single percentage point.
RSA Retail Savings Bonds pay a rate fixed at issue and cannot be traded, which removes price risk entirely if you hold to maturity.
★ What this means in practice
Bonds quote by yield rather than price, so a bond 'rising' in a headline usually means its yield rose, which is a price fall.
✕ Common mistakes
- A bond fund is not a safe alternative to cash. A bond fund is not a safe alternative to cash. Duration means a fund holding long bonds can fall several percent when yields rise a single percentage point.
- RSA Retail Savings Bonds pay a rate fixed at issue and cannot be traded,. RSA Retail Savings Bonds pay a rate fixed at issue and cannot be traded, which removes price risk entirely if you hold to maturity.
- Bonds quote by yield rather than price, so a bond 'rising' in a headline. Bonds quote by yield rather than price, so a bond 'rising' in a headline usually means its yield rose, which is a price fall.
- Taking a figure without its date. A number from a reference page is only as good as when it was last checked, which is why the date sits at the top of this one.
Notes on reading these figures
- A bond fund is not a safe alternative to cash. Duration means a fund holding long bonds can fall several percent when yields rise a single percentage point.
- RSA Retail Savings Bonds pay a rate fixed at issue and cannot be traded, which removes price risk entirely if you hold to maturity.
- Bonds quote by yield rather than price, so a bond 'rising' in a headline usually means its yield rose, which is a price fall.
To put these figures to work, The South African Bond Yields runs the arithmetic on your own numbers; Bond vs Invest Calculator covers the same ground in ordinary language; JSE Settlement Cycle goes into the detail this table only summarises; JSE ETF Reference is the related figure worth reading beside it; and CFDs on bonds covers what this page leaves out.
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Terms used on this page
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy government bonds directly?
In practice no. Individual lines trade in institutional size, typically R1 million nominal.
What are the retail options?
RSA Retail Savings Bonds from R1,000, a bond ETF, a bond unit trust or a money market fund.
Is a bond fund safe?
It carries no credit risk on government paper but full price risk. A long-duration fund can fall several percent when yields rise a point.
Why do bonds quote by yield?
Convention. A bond 'rising' in a headline usually means its yield rose, which is a price fall.
What is the settlement cycle?
T+3 for bonds.
What is the difference between clean and dirty price?
The clean price excludes accrued interest. The dirty price includes it and is what you actually pay.