Afrikaner town launches its own digital currency

(15 Jul 2018) LEAD IN
A rural enclave in South Africa, set up after the end of apartheid, is launching its own digital currency.
The Afrikaner town Orania already uses its own money and it's now teaming up with an economist to roll out an electronic version.

STORY-LINE
Although Monja Strydom lives in South Africa, she doesn't use the national currency, the rand, when shopping.
Strydom has lived almost her whole life in Orania, a semi-independent Afrikaner community in the northern Cape province.
The method of payment here is the Ora and an electronic version is now being introduced.
Carel Boshoff is the President of the Orania Movement.
"In the first place it is about self-reliance which sprouts from a determined sense of responsibility, together with carrying out our own labour, our own work. This has in an interesting way everything to do with the use of the Ora, an internal coupon, an internal currency - in inverted commas - which is now becoming an e-Ora, which can be used for electronic transactions. This reiterates the concept of self-reliance – to create a way of stimulating and strengthening an internal economy," he says.  
When South Africa's infamous apartheid segregation policy was dismantled 25 years ago, a group of Afrikaners founded their own separate community.
The country's liberal constitution allows for the right to self-determination of any community sharing a common cultural and language heritage.
Orania, which is 8000 hectares in size and is on private land, runs its own municipal services.
For its 1600 residents, the E-Ora is another step towards independence.
Dawie Roodt is an economist who as been advising Orania on their E-Ora development.
"So as money evolved over time transaction costs have been coming down quite dramatically. And that's a very important contributing reason why the world is as rich as it is today and probably why the world is going to grow even richer – because the costs of transactions have been coming down. For that reason it is so important that you always stay with the most recent developments, technological developments. And I think the most recent technological development certainly is the so-called electronic money, or so-called crypto money and maybe even private money. And as transactions keep on coming down, I think that we are going to see that economies do more transactions, and more transactions in the end means more economic activity and more wealth creation," he says.
The Ora is essentially a coupon pegged to the South African Rand. Transaction costs for the E-Ora, or electronic ora, are only 0.5 percent which compares favourably to bank charges in South Africa and globally.
To use the E-Ora Strydom loads credit onto her E-Ora account at the Orania Chamber of Commerce. She can then make purchases without the need for cash.
"It's very easy. So I came here literally with my phone and bought the things I needed. I didn't need to bring my purse. And I could be anywhere and do a transaction so that makes it very easy. And the transaction costs are very low. So those are the two positive things about the E-Ora," she says.
The South African government is currently formulating a position paper on cryptocurrency.
Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, Francois Groepe clarifies the position of South Africa's central bank on the E-Ora.
But transitioning from the Ora to the electronic Ora opens up possibilities of further independence for this community.
Orania Chamber of Commerce Chairman Daniel Dames explains the future vision of the E-Ora.

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