The partnership that will see the company roll out the ‘On the Money’ financial well-being programme to football players, which will increase their financial knowledge and help them manage their finances better.
Managing director of Old Mutual’s Retail Mass Foundation cluster Bongani Madikiza, said: “We’re pleased to be able to contribute to the lives of the footballers by equipping them to make wise financial decisions and thereby also contribute towards building a strong national savings culture.”
“We all know the tales about well-known, talented footballers who end up in dire situations because they mismanaged their finances. Even if they are highly talented athletes with wonderful opportunities and lucrative sports contracts, the harsh reality is that many players end up destitute because they were not afforded appropriate money skills,” said Madikiza.
“By concluding this partnership with SAFPU, we are able to promote financial fitness awareness. As a leading savings and investment champion, Old Mutual brings financial expertise to the party. We are confident that our practical ‘On the Money’ programme and others will not only help players while their solid sporting careers are on the go, but will also ensure that they make wise investment choices for the longer term so that they can look ahead to do great things once they retire from soccer. We certainly hope that our ‘On the Money’ programme will assist in bringing an end to the many ‘from-riches-to-rags’ experiences,” he said.
President of SAFPU, Hareipha ‘Simba’ Marumo, said, “The union is very excited about this partnership. The challenges facing our players are well documented. For far too long our players have been disenfranchised by their lack of knowledge on issues such as finance, which has had devastating impacts on their futures. With [this] financial education programme, we can look forward to a financially wiser generation of footballers.”
The ‘On the Money’ financial education programme will be rolled out to all South African professional football bodies, including the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the National First Division (NFD), Bafana Bafana, Banyana Banyana and all of South Africa’s national teams. In addition to providing financial training to the footballers, the partnership will also see combined efforts to extend the learnings from the ‘On the Money’ programme to many communities, schools and other development structures.
This part of the initiative will also include advice on practising a safe lifestyle, understanding business, being an outstanding citizen (role models) and a mentorship and development component to up-and-coming footballers.
Madikiza concluded, “Improving savings in South Africa is one of the major socio-economic challenges that we face. It is clear that we need to intensify our efforts to build a more financially astute society and address the low savings levels in our country. We hope that our partnership with the footballers will empower more consumers with financial know-how and sound financial planning.”
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