On the stock market, mining firms dragged the bourse lower.
By 15.15 GMT the rand had weakened 1.12% to 13.2800 per dollar, its weakest level since 14 February following an overnight close of 13.1425 in New York.
The rand was on the back foot early on in the session as US initial jobless claims remained below 300,000 for a 105th straight week, pushing the chances of a rate increase to near certainty.
The unit had outperformed most emerging market currencies in the first half of the week as steady commodity prices boosted demand, prompting traders to predict some profit-taking.
