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20101104

Orania hails indigenous knowledge Bill

Orania already developed its own self-sufficient micro-economy

November 4, 2010 By Donwald Pressly – Parliamentary hearings on intellectual property legislation to protect indigenous knowledge turned into a discussion at the portfolio committee on trade and industry yesterday, on the steps taken by the Afrikaner community at the non-independent Orania homeland in the northern Cape which were already leading to the development of their own self-sufficient micro-economy. They had their own currency and credit unions – and applied for permission to run their own co-operative bank.. writes Donwald Pressly.  The parliamentary committee was chaired by ANC MP Joan Fubbs.

Carel Boshoff junior --  grandson of the assassinated pre-1994 prime minister Dr Hendrik Verwoerd -- and who inherited the Orania Movement from his parents Drs Carel and Anna Boshoff, told the committee that their community believed that ‘sui generis mechanisms were probably adequate to protect its cultural knowledge.’

Their own credit unions and the Ora notes keep cash inside the community

  • Orania monetary system helps keep its money inside its own communityThe 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”. http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=5716145