The Social Capital

A traditional, informal means of saving, stokvel investment societies continue to bind communities in South Africa. Their currency is trust, and their capital a central fund that spawns new opportunities.

- Melitta Ngalonkulu

In this house in Centurion in Johannesburg on a July afternoon, there’s song, food, friendship and camaraderie. And one common component that binds the women: stokvels.

For most South Africans honoring the tradition, this is a word synonymous with savings schemes that they have come to trust over generations.

And like this meet we are witness to today, it stands for a pact a group of people who know and trust each other enter into, to contribute a fixed amount of money towards a common pool.

The group of people we are meeting are the Akanani Sisters, ‘grocery stokvel’ members who occasionally come together, bantering over a hot meal and listening to music.

“The whole purpose of the stokvel is so that we come together as ladies and mothers from different age groups, so we may build and advise one another on life matters. It is not just about collecting money, we cry and laugh together,” says Bahedile Mooke, one of the members.

Stokvels, the traditional South African savings scheme with 11.5 million members in 810,000 groups contributing R50 billion ($3.76 billion) annually to the economy, is often overlooked.

“Anything outside of the stokvel framework, is something [alien to them],” says Mizi Mtshali, Chief Executive Officer of the National Stokvel Association of South Africa (NASASA).

The Akanani Sisters’ stokvel was formed in 2015 by three family members who gathered together on a monthly basis. The group, however, is not registered with NASASA and does not save its funds through financial institutions. However, they are looking at registering with NASASA as a precautionary step.

“We got tired of meeting only when there were funerals, so we decided to start a small stokvel even if it was just for groceries,” says Sibongile Motsoeneng, treasurer of the Akanani Sisters.