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SOUTH AFRICA'S SILENT DIGITAL REVOLUTION — PART 3 CBDCs, DIGITAL PAYMENTS & THE QUIET MOVE AWAY FROM CASH Now we get into the money side of this whole thing. South Africa has been working on digital currency technology for years. Project Khokha, launched by the Reserve Bank in 2018, has tested blockchain-based payment systems and wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) applications. A CBDC isn't simply your normal banking app or an EFT. It is central-bank-issued digital money, which raises very different questions about how transactions could be recorded, monitored and potentially controlled. The report then looks at the infrastructure being developed around digital identity and digital payments, including MyMzansi and the Reserve Bank's digital payments work. And then there's the bit that affects ordinary people much more directly: cash. Cash is still legal tender in South Africa, but the Reserve Bank has confirmed that retailers are not necessarily legally required to accept it. More businesses are moving towards cashless systems, while government policy is actively encouraging greater use of digital payments. SARS is also becoming increasingly digital, with developments involving real-time reporting, electronic invoicing and expanded financial information. The report's argument is that these developments don't need a CBDC to have an effect. The infrastructure can be built first, while people gradually become accustomed to using digital systems for identity, payments, tax and everyday transactions. Whether that is simply modernisation or whether it is laying the groundwork for something much bigger is where the debate begins. Personally, I think the sensible question is: What safeguards will ordinary people have if our entire financial lives eventually become digital? Click on the text to follow the link ✤ Website: freedomalliancesa.org ➥ Join: @WeAreFASA ✤ Freedom Alliance SA Chat Group ✤ Freedom Alliance SA WhatsApp Group ✤ Please read FASA's DISCLAIMER HERE