Stokvels may be the future of this country

Billions of rands that lie dormant in alternative means of savings such as stokvels, can be exploited to form the nucleus of an answer to the country’s future economic prosperity.

This was the view of the CEO of the National Stokvels Association of South Africa, Andile Mazwai, during a Nedbank-sponsored debate focusing on what is called the hidden economy. The debate sought to find what role banks could play in order to tap in and unlock the potential of these dormant funds.

Addressing his audience, which included stokvel members from Alexandra and other areas, Mazwai said all that was needed was ingenuity from one bank to create the right products that could have the capacity to unlock these funds.

He said the spark needed to trigger South Africa’s economic prosperity could be lying dormant in stokvels and other informal ways of savings that could unlock much-needed economic growth.

Managing director of research company African Resources, Mamapudi Nkgadima, urged banks to devise a working arrangement that did not intend to take over, replace or destroy stokvels, but one that looks at stokvels as partners in the economic development of the nation.

“Many black people in these stokvels are hesitant in putting their money into the banks as they [will] be charged to deposit those funds and also charged to withdraw them,” she said. “This is over and above the monthly ledger fees they get charged. And at the end of the day, people look at this and believe there is no point in saving with banks and prefer to put their money under their pillows,” she said.

Nedbank’s Poovi Pillay said his bank had started listening to what people or the markets want, and was endeavouring to tailor its products to suit the best interests of those people and market forces.