Technology records transactions and makes it almost impossible to abuse trust
31 August 2023 - 20:19
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As the 2024 national elections inch closer, South Africans are being confronted with a number of hard facts. Our government has failed to deliver basic services (repeatedly), crime is on the rise and our society appears to be growing more unequal year on year.
Extreme poverty and unemployment continue to characterise the lives of the majority, and while the private sector does its best to keep our economy turning we are all being called to reconsider our approach to several uniquely SA problems.
While this certainly rings true for most people in our country today, there are a number of technical solutions we can leverage to address the unique issues our country is facing. Blockchain technology could play a pivotal role in this undertaking as a decentralised, incorruptible, immutable ledger that can be used to safely record transactions and build trust. In fact, decentralised technologies aim to eliminate the need for trust altogether.
In other words, the technology operates as expected, in accordance with the code, with no room for abuse of trust. Not even the most tech-savvy tenderpreneur could defraud a truly decentralised blockchain. This is something all South Africans should know — the technology exists to prevent the deepening of corruption in our country overnight.
That said, no-one expects the government to move all its systems and processes onto the blockchain overnight — this would come in direct conflict with those who make these decisions, and who may be the largest perpetrators of corruption.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t use blockchain technology to fix some of the things that corruption has broken — especially when it comes to the supply and generation of electricity for our people, businesses and community centres.
Ahren Posthumus CEO Momint
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Blockchain can curb fraud
Technology records transactions and makes it almost impossible to abuse trust
As the 2024 national elections inch closer, South Africans are being confronted with a number of hard facts. Our government has failed to deliver basic services (repeatedly), crime is on the rise and our society appears to be growing more unequal year on year.
Extreme poverty and unemployment continue to characterise the lives of the majority, and while the private sector does its best to keep our economy turning we are all being called to reconsider our approach to several uniquely SA problems.
While this certainly rings true for most people in our country today, there are a number of technical solutions we can leverage to address the unique issues our country is facing. Blockchain technology could play a pivotal role in this undertaking as a decentralised, incorruptible, immutable ledger that can be used to safely record transactions and build trust. In fact, decentralised technologies aim to eliminate the need for trust altogether.
In other words, the technology operates as expected, in accordance with the code, with no room for abuse of trust. Not even the most tech-savvy tenderpreneur could defraud a truly decentralised blockchain. This is something all South Africans should know — the technology exists to prevent the deepening of corruption in our country overnight.
That said, no-one expects the government to move all its systems and processes onto the blockchain overnight — this would come in direct conflict with those who make these decisions, and who may be the largest perpetrators of corruption.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t use blockchain technology to fix some of the things that corruption has broken — especially when it comes to the supply and generation of electricity for our people, businesses and community centres.
Ahren Posthumus
CEO Momint
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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