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Transparency and trust go hand-in-hand

Whitepaper

COWRIE

What is the COWRIE?

The COWRIE is a community based utility crypto which is endorsed by SAtion, which has been tasked by Business Unity South Africa to lead South Africa’s digital revitalisation strategy. The COWRIE has taken away all the barriers of entry and created a crypto which drives inclusion, and not only benefits you, but also benefits your community and has real world utility.

By creating the COWRIE initiative, which combines legal, with blockchain and mobile as core technology, we can now place much-needed community upliftment income directly into the hands of the people or projects they are intended for from all around the world - whilst ensuring radical transparency. Find out more information by downloading the whitepaper or visiting the community site.

JEFFREY BARBEE

Jeffrey Barbee is an award winning investigative journalist and film maker focusing on groundbreaking environmental and science issues around the world. Numerous newspapers and magazines, including National Geographic, The Guardian and others commission his writing.

His 2015 film The High Cost of Cheap Gas has been translated into seven languages –winning numerous awards including the LA Independent Film Festival, Envirofilm, an International Award of Merit and others.

He works on assignment for NOS TV in Holland, as well as on other TV and film projects.

Barbee is the director and founder of Alliance Earth, a non-profit foundation creating science and environmental reporting for the world’s media. He is also a mountaineer, photographer, expedition leader and a fellow of the Explorer’s Club.

Barbee worked for 15 years as a professional photographer for publications including the New York Times, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, The LA Times, The Times, GEO and others. His photography work has also been highlighted in shows at museums like The Levine Museum of the New South.

ZAKHELE G MTHETHWA

Zakhele is the founder and chief enabler of Inceku Yenkosi Pty Ltd. Inceku Yenkosi is a Nguni word meaning ‘’Steward of a King’’. Currently the Economic Advisor of King Makhosoke II, the King of Amandebele as a whole.

He is an ardent lobbyist for rural and township economic development through business collaboration to enable economic activation in places and communities that are currently excluded in the mainstream economy of South Africa.

He is a University of JHB graduate in NDIP chemical engineering, with 15 years of experience in water treatment and sales in both the UK and RSA.

BRENDA KALI

Brenda Kali is one of the leading voices in advocating conscious, ethical leadership. She has over the years set into motion a stream of consciousness that is organically changing the landscape of how business is done and the ethos of leadership.

Her twenty-five-year tenure as an executive saw the reputational turnaround of major companies and set her on a journey that would have an impact, not only in her life, but on countless other organisations in her quest to build conscious leadership capacity.

Fascinated by the observations she had gleaned after time in the corporate space, she resolved to deepen the understanding of power, purpose, productivity, profit and responsibility in the workplace, infused with a different quality of thinking and being in the world. This inspired her to write “Beyond Corporate Sludge”, insights to create balance and harmony in the workplace.

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MAURICE A. CRESPI

Maurice is an experienced legal practitioner with a sound knowledge of commercial, property, labour, IP, tax, corporate and Fintech law. He is a highly experienced and established corporate litigation attorney with several reported judgments in both the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court and has been a partner of Schindlers Attorneys since 1998.

Maurice provides guidance to international banks, companies, governments, NGOs and other global pillars of society in respect of the legal and tech gauntlet that is required to become competitive in the fourth industrial revolution.

In 2017, recognising the impact that exponential technology would have on the world, Maurice began to pivot and increased his areas of practice from mainly litigation to also becoming a specialist in Fintech, blockchain technology and blockchain law. In the same year he founded Schindlers’ Blockchain Department, it being the first in South Africa.

Maurice began focusing on the convergence of blockchain technology and law. Maurice is currently deep learning Machine Learning at Stanford University, Unity Development at UC San Diego, Crypto/Blockchain at Princeton and Mixed Reality at the University of London.

Maurice formed COBRA (Covid Business Rescue Assistance) in 2020, the largest pro-bono initiative in South Africa’s history. He hosted over one hundred webinars for Cobra in 2020. COBRA spawned SAtion, that has been endorsed by Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), as well as the South African Government, as South Africa’s Official Digital Revitalisation Strategy. COBRA has assisted over 500 companies, large and small.

As a further pro bono initiative, Maurice formed Schindlers Eco Forensics to assist anyone that requires pro-bono assistance in protecting and preserving our environment. This is South Africa’s largest environmental pro bono initiative.

ISMAIL LAHER

Ismail is a commercial lawyer specialising in corporate, mergers and acquisitions based in Johannesburg. Ismail advises local and foreign clients on the BEE in South Africa and is an accredited Certified Empowerment Technician.

He has assisted with various commercial transactions including corporate structures and restructuring, drafting agreements, licensing and corporate administration.

Ismail has given advise on the local ownership requirements to be issued and hold licences under the Renewable Energy Independent Procurement Power Producer Procurement Programme, the Petroleum Products Act and relating to exploration rights and productions rights under the Mineral Petroleum Resources Development Act.

What are the Objectives of the Trust?

The Trust is established for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The Trust will use funds for socio-economic upliftment for the benefit of communities. The main objects of the Trust are to support communities in respect of:

Education and development
Social infrastructure
Healthcare
Land, livestock, agriculture and housing
Providing funds, assets, or other resources
Welfare and humanitarian
Religion, belief or philosophy
Sports development
Technology

The Trustees will also prioritise projects that promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

What is Radical Transparency?

In terms of section 16 of the Trust Deed, the Trust is established on the principle of radical transparency.

To achieve oversight by the public, government and other institutions, the Trustees of the Trust must publish the following at a minimum on this website -

the Trust Deed;
the Trust and any entity in which the Trust has an interest’s management accounts;
details of all remuneration received by the Trustees and any directors/trustees of any entity in which the Trust has an interest;
details of all remuneration paid to any of the Trust’s contractors, including charges for legal and other professional services;
the Trust’s monthly bank statements;
all minutes of meetings of Trustees;
any complaints received from employees and disclosures made by whistle-blowers;
the Trust’s annual financial statements;
bonuses to employees that exceed an amount equivalent to one month the employee’s monthly remuneration;
recordings of all meetings of Trustees; and
any information and/or documentation that would be in the public interest.

The Trust further embraces radical transparency and incorruptibility in the following ways:

50% of the trustees are required to be independent and currently comprises of a National Geographic journalist, attorneys and the like;
journalists, government and community ambassadors shall be deemed to have an interest in the affairs of the Trust and shall have access to the Trust’s records, as though they themselves are Trustees;
this website shall at all times be independently administered by a third party;
this website shall at all times contain a complaint procedure whereby anyone who believes that the Trustees are not complying with their duties can direct their complaint in writing and the complaint will be dealt with;
the Trustees agree to subject themselves to constant oversight;
the Trustees agree to be willing and able to absorb feedback and respond to it in a positive, non-defensive way; and
the Trustees have the ability to deliver brutally honest feedback to others in a way that builds relationships rather than tearing them down.