News and commentBitcoin brings renewed independence to marginalized communities in South Africa

There is a small South African township nestled on a hill just outside Mossel Bay with a beautiful view of the ocean. As is typical of many South African townships, this one is in great need of proper infrastructure (sewerage, water and electrical), is rife with crime, and houses many unbanked individuals. In August 2021, Hermann Vivier and Luthando Ndabambi had the goal of finding a store in the township willing to sell something for bitcoin. Within hours two soda’s were bought and that was when Bitcoin Ekasi was born.

In just over a year, they’ve onboarded 11 shop owners to accept bitcoin as a payment, and Bitcoin Ekasi now employs 2 full-time senior coaches, 2 full-time lifeguards, a full-time teacher and 4 part-time junior coaches who earn bitcoin while helping the community. They have also opened an education center, a bitcoin rewards program for children, and empowered multiple other members of the community to earn, use and save in bitcoin.

While this community has been largely neglected by those in power, bitcoin has put this community on the map and connected members to the world at large as tourists have also begun visiting the community to spend their sats and enjoy bitcoin meetups.

We spoke to Vivier and Ndabambi from Bitcoin Ekasi to find out about how they got into bitcoin, how it’s changed their lives and resulted in a project that’s changing lives for many more.

According to a report from 2022, South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, and the main reasons for this include firstly, the inequality of opportunity (individuals have little or no control over their inherited circumstances) and secondly, disadvantaged populations still lack access to jobs and means of production (education, skills, etc.).

Some may say that a history of inequality, stemming back to colonialism in the 17th century, ended in 1994 when South Africans of all races were allowed to vote for the first time in three centuries. The reality is that segregation is still rife as the aforementioned report states that 10% of the 60 million population owns more than 80% of the wealth.

Bitcoin protects your right to protest

Vivier and Ndabambi were both born and raised in South Africa but their upbringings were quite different. Vivier grew up “quite privileged” as he proclaimed, never needing anything and also enjoying the luxury of quality education nationally and abroad. Ndabambi lived not too far away in a township where many people have to walk long distances for luxuries like running water and flushing toilets.

Viver, the founder of Bitcoin Ekasi, became aware of inequalities in his own country and internationally from a young age. While in South Africa, he was aware of his own privilege compared to the majority of its citizens but this did not prepare him for his experience studying abroad.

During his high school year studying in Denmark in 2002, he recalled how surprised he was when he saw how school pupils had access to multiple computers in every classroom and protested when their school decided to start charging a small fee for photocopies. His high school in Cape Town did not have a single computer accessible to students, never mind the printer that raised the Danish student’s protests. “The problems that you concern yourself with are very much dependent on the circumstances you’re dealing with,” he shared. Life’s unfair as some people are born into more difficult lives than others, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help each other.

When asked how they convinced members of one of the poorest communities in South Africa to start using bitcoin Vivier and Ndabambi said they didn’t have to as when demonstrated, people quickly realized that bitcoin is the best option available to them right now.

Ndabambi was one of the two bitcoiners who onboarded the first shop in the township to use bitcoin. As a member of the community he understands that many are skeptical of bitcoin due to their unfortunate experiences with scams. Fortunately, a quick demonstration using bitrefill to buy lunch or airtime using bitcoin quickly proves that it can be used safely and easily with their own phones.

Other than working as a coach at Bitcoin Ekasi, for which he gets paid in bitcoin, Ndabambi has now also become the communities go-to guy when they want to learn how to use bitcoin, how to setup and store it in their hardware wallets, how to change it into South African Rands, or use it as remittance. Ndabambi said that people quickly realize that while, “it’s hard to open a bank account, it’s easy to use bitcoin.”

Bitcoin is freedom

Ndabambi shared how bitcoin has changed his own life: “I think differently now, I’m thinking about my future and I’m saving for it,” he said. Ndabambi described how when he was earning South African Rands bank fees would take a sizable chunk of his salary. Now that he’s earning bitcoin, he can save more, and other members of his community can too. “I tell the kids that come to the learning centre that I want to see doctors and professors from this township,” he says. Bitcoin has not only instilled opportunity in this community, it’s also given members hope for brighter futures.

Vivier may have onboarded Ndabambi into bitcoin but he had known about bitcoin for a few years before he started using it out of necessity for his tourism business. In 2015, as a result of the Russian annexation of Crimea, sanctions prohibited his clients from making international transfers but fortunately, they were able to pay in bitcoin instead.

Vivier spoke of how his personal journey in recovery taught him that you can’t force people to do anything, “it needs to come from within” he said. He’d seen countless desperate parents dragging their children into AA meetings in an attempt to get them clean but as long as those children were living in their parent’s homes and being fed, they would keep using. It’s only when they hit rock bottom, when they’re living on the streets or have no other choice that they decide to fight to live. “Addiction taught me that you’re not going to change unless the situation becomes so terrible you can’t tolerate it anymore.” Viver said, “if you can tolerate it, you’ll probably tolerate a less than ideal situation for much longer than what is actually in your interests.”

Ubuntu is a South African word that means “I am because we are.” It asserts that our actions have an impact on others and society as a whole, that an individual can only make progress through the progress of others and it is through this interconnectedness that humanity exists.

Bitcoin is a representation of Ubuntu. It is rooted in and strengthened by connectivity and community. All users are equals and the system as a whole exists and is improved by those that choose to use it. Just as individual human beings need each other to recognize and create their humanity, bitcoiners need other bitcoiners to recognize and create a more just monetary system for all. So how does one get into bitcoin?

Self-custody and how to keep Bitcoin safe.

Whether an individual first turns to bitcoin because they see it as an interesting technology, an investment or just curiosity, it does inevitably lead to a new perspective on freedom and monetary sovereignty. Some bitcoiners will work tirelessly to convince their nearest and dearest to join them on this journey but, in South Africa, there’s a different, and perhaps better, approach: to let bitcoin speak for itself.

For many in the Global South, their current fiat currencies and monetary infrastructures have become intolerable. In these countries, where there are great political, economic and social issues, bitcoin is a game changer. It gives those born into unfortunate inherited circumstances, those that have been neglected and ignored for too long, a chance to save for their futures, to participate in a global economy and to connect with the world at large. Bitcoin connects people in their humanity, bitcoin is ubuntu.

Bitcoin is a tool for change was originally published in Trezor Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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