Stocks were down as precious metals producers weighed on the bourse.
At 1520 GMT the rand had gained 0.21% to R12.9125 per dollar following a close at R12.9400 in New York on Friday.
The local unit had slipped to a session low of R12.9950 in early trade, rattled by renewed political tensions after media reports that Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas was being investigated by the Hawks police unit.
The rand made strides following last Wednesday's budget speech where Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan struck an upbeat tone on growth while raising taxes for the country's top earners, but persistent rumours of a cabinet reshuffle targeting the Treasury have limited the currency's rally.
"When Minister Gordhan delivered the Budget Speech last year – soon after he was parachuted into the position – the rand was at R15.26 against the US dollar. Last week, it closed at R12.94," said investment strategists at Old Mutual Dave Mohr and Izak Odendaal.
"South Africa benefits from all these trends, and the local economic outlook has therefore improved," they added in a note.
Locally, trade, manufacturing, vehicle sales and money supply figures are due in the week and will give more details on the signs of an economic recovery that has seen the rand hit its firmest since October 2015.
On the stock market, the benchmark Top-40 index inched down 0.3% to 44,462 points while the All-Share index slipped 0.2% to 51,497 points.
