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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Orania hails indigenous knowledge Bill
13:17 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
Also below: Reports to Parliament : Experienced Afrikaner soldiers are leaving the SANDF in droves and BEE bars fresh white recruits from military employment; Orania has already developed its own self-sufficient micro-economy; and the onslaught against farmers continues: another elderly male farmer murdered in Toise, Stutterheim, East Cape.
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Orania already developed its own self-sufficient micro-economy, hears Parliament
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.’
- Orania photo show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oraniabeweging/show/
Their own credit unions and the Ora keep cash inside the community
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”. http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=5716145
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Experienced white soldiers leave SANDF in droves –
Johannesburg – Primarily white Afrikaner men are leaving the army in their droves, according to figures presented in Parliament. Business Day reported on Thursday that General Andries de Wit told Parliament's defence committee that since the introduction of an exit mechanism five years ago, 3 718 SA National Defence Force members had used it to leave the army.Of those, 67% were white males and about half of them were in senior ranks, between warrant officers and colonels.Some 2 496 white, 856 black, 306 coloured and 70 Indian soldiers have left the army in the past five years.
Under the black-economic-empowerment laws, new white recruits also are actively discouraged from applying for posts in the SANDF. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/White-soldiers-leaving-army-20101104
Elderly farmer found murdered in his shop, Toise near Stutterheim
2010/11/03 source: bonganif@dispatch.co.za STUTTERHEIM – The SAPS are investigating the murder of a 76-year-old farmer found dead in his shop in Toise, near Stutterheim. The farmer, who cannot be named until his family is notified, was found by people visiting his store. King William’s Town police spokesman person Captain Thozama Solani said: ““The old man was found murdered inside his shop. We suspect that this incident might have happened on Monday night. Some of the foodstuff was scattered on the shop floor,” said Solani.
The farmer is thought to have been staying alone on his farm at the time of the incident. Solani said the farmer had been well known in the area and local residents had been shocked to learn about his death.Police units from different areas had been sent to the scene.“At this stage no arrests have been made and it’s not clear how many suspects were involved in the robbery and murder.
- “Almost all the shop goods were scattered all over the place, and at this stage police are not sure of what damage has been caused or what is missing,” Solani said. - By BONGANI FUZILE Crime Reporter – Daily Dispatch, East London - . bonganif@dispatch.co.za
- http://www.dispatch.co.za
