South Africa government bonds also recovered. The yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond, which touched its weakest level in four months on Friday, was down 4 basis points at 9.105% in early deals.
"After having made considerable gains over the course of the month thus far, a combination of factors saw the rand retreat," said analysts at Nedbank in a note.
The rand was 0.44% stronger at 14.5550 per dollar, little moved from its overnight close of 14.6200.
There has been a divergence of views among traders this year over just how US President Joe Biden's planned $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package will affect the dollar.
Rand was 0.46% weaker at 15.2400 per dollar, marking a third consecutive session of losses as investors took a more circumspect view of the pace of the global economic rebound.
The United States $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plans and the likelihood of developed market central banks keeping liquidity taps open.
It added that more information on the 7 billion rand required by the Land Bank would be made available during the 2021 Budget, which is due in February.
South Africa's health ministry reported more than 21,000 new infections late on Wednesday, taking confirmed COVID-19 cases to date to 1.15 million, the most in Africa.
But the impact of a stricter lockdown in South Africa announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa is still to play out on the currency and the stock market locally.
Britain also joined a number of other nations in imposing travel restrictions on the country, after it found two cases of another new variant of the coronavirus linked to South Africa.
South Africa said on Friday a virus strain similar to the one reported in the United Kingdom was driving a second wave in the country, prompting some countries to include South Africa in their travel bans.
Statistics South Africa will publish third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures on Tuesday, while consumer price inflation (CPI) and retail sales data is due on Wednesday.
The rand gained 0.8pc with the safe-haven dollar under pressure, while a widely watched EM equities index rose 0.9pc to hit new highs since March 2018, supported by strong gains across Asian bourses.