Nov 05, 2010

Afrikaner: New Currency Aims to Local Enterprise


Pretoria sees no objections to the establishment of a local currency and “co-operative bank” intended to support the cultural traditions of the Afrikaner

 

Below is an article published by Business Report:


The Orania Afrikaners had already established credit unions and subject to a go-ahead from the Reserve Bank they wanted to start their own "co-operative bank", which would mean the end of the presence of a South African bank in the town, which is currently Absa.


A local currency, the ora, had been established to benefit the community by keeping the money inside the community rather than flowing out', he told the committee.

Boshoff, chairman of the Orania board, told MPs that they had their own currency, the Ora and that a currency note of this kind one could be used to 'enhance trade within the community and contribute to its wealth.

"Noting that the Orania Movement broadly supported the Intellectual Property Amendment Bill - which aims to protect indigenous cultural knowledge, including music and written works - Boshoff, nevertheless, noted that the community did not believe that their traditions such as 'kappies' (traditional headgear worn by Afrikaner women), 'koeksisters ( Afrikaner sweetcake) and melktert (milk tart) were owned by the Afrikaner community. They could be and were enjoyed by all, he said: "More people in Namaqualand wore kappies than those in Orania," he said.

The Afrikaner commune is housed on the banks of the Orange river, near Hopetown. Boshoff said the Orania community "wanted to create its own economy where the money stayed at home to provide local jobs, rather than shipping investments outside of the town and paying for shopping malls in the big cities".