One of Gauteng’s oldest stokvels has found an innovative way to control its member contributions with money not exchanging hands to eliminate theft and robberies, which are common at this time of the year. Stokvels are woven into SA’s financial DNA and are used by families to cushion the financial burden that many often experience in January. For more than 15 years, Itireleng Bokamoso stokvel, based in Diepsloot and led by Irene Thathani, has not only survived hurdles but flourished through discipline, transparency, modern thinking and a sisterhood built on trust.
“We started this stokvel in 2006 when life was still a little easier,” said Thathani. “Back then, we were each contributing R100 a month. Today, things have changed, and we had to change with the economy.” The stokvel now has more than 80 members from Diepsloot, Soweto, Pretoria, the Vaal and Limpopo, proof that community support can stretch far beyond neighbourhood borders.
However, after Covid-19 and the rising cost of living, the group adapted. Members now contribute R1,000 monthly, which is broken into R400 for groceries, R200 for meat, R100 for cold drinks, R100 for snacks and R200 for alcohol. The spoils are shared in December, and they all get given vouchers for snacks and alcohol, while the rest are bought collectively at their chosen Makro branch, where they get discounts which they had negotiated with the shop at the beginning of the year.
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“We realised people prefer their own choices when it comes to drinks and snacks for their children, so we give vouchers instead,” she said. One of the stokvel’s biggest strengths and a key reason it has never fallen victim to scams or internal conflicts is how it handles money. “We don’t deal with cash at all,” Thathani stressed.
Members meet only at Makro for its monthly contribution sessions. “We don’t meet in our homes. We meet at Makro, where it is safe, and they have given us a space to gather every month. We don’t want to be scammed or robbed.”
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