This paper considers institutional aspects of private shareholding in the central banks of South Africa and Turkey. It is shown that only a small number of central banks other than the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) in South Africa and Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankasi (TCMB) in Turkey have any form of private shareholding. The comparison highlights considerable institutional differences between the shareholding governance structures of the SARB and the TCMB. These differences include aspects such as classes of shareholding in the case of the TCMB, the rights and powers of shareholders and majority shareholder control in the case of the TCMB. However, in both instances shareholders do not have any powers or rights pertaining to monetary policy matters.