Stokvel-run cooperatives needful to ensure long-term wealth

Stokvels need to think long-term sustainability and should consider forming cooperatives to achieve this and create wealth.

This is according to Santy Mokgoatsane, who co-founded non-profit company (NPC) Stokvel Movement of SA in 2018.

He said stokvels are informal and semi-formal, and the movement is encouraging them to form cooperatives. “Members of the groups (stokvels) are not aware that once they form a cooperative, they will make a killing,” Mokgoatsane said.

He said he came up with the concept of stokvels forming cooperatives after he found that these were working really well in Italy.

“A consumer cooperative is a shop or mall in a township where people in that area go and buy… It is doable. When you go and buy at a supermarket, you are not a shareholder. With these consumer cooperatives, people will become shareholders of those shops and at the end of the financial year they will get dividends.”

He said there were many shops across the townships that were disused and dilapidated. These, Mokgoatsane said, could be refurbished by stokvels, creating long-lasting wealth for themselves.

“Stokvels in SA could use the same concept to build wealth. This will create jobs for people in those particular areas. Our aim is to make it a point that maybe by the end of 2023, we have 10 shops in some of the townships.

“This is a concept and we are moving forward, looking for funders. As soon as we get funding, we will get the shops running,” Mokgoatsane said.

He said Stokvel Movement of SA runs monthly roadshows in Gauteng and Limpopo where they encourage stokvels to start businesses and educate them about how to run their cooperatives.

He said the movement also gets advisors involved to share their knowledge.

The roadshows have been running since January.

“Since we started with the roadshows, we have mentored some stokvels on how to start and run businesses. This will boost the township economy. What we also do is to invite businesses to make presentations about what they do to encourage stokvels,” Mokgoatsane said.

He said as an NPC, the movement is able to get funding. “We do not directly give funding to stokvels but we can direct them to the right people who can assist. We have just started writing letters to companies to ask for funding and the feedback is positive.

“We need millions to start these shops and we are still in negotiations with them. We might even get money offshore. There are some promises. Once these shops are established, they will be owned by the Stokvel Movement of SA. They will be like a franchise.

“Stokvels and ordinary community members will become shareholders. Research has shown that the major banks are benefitting from stokvels but stokvels are not. In future, we need our own stokvel bank, which will benefit these groups,” Mokgoatsane said.

He said he also does mentoring and shows the groups how to fill out tender documents as he is a procurement specialist.

Mokgoatsane, who co-founded the National Stokvels Association of SA in 1987, said there are 3,500 stokvels on the movement's database.

He said the movement also negotiates on behalf of stokvels as they still buy from supermarkets but he hopes this will change soon.

mashabas@sowetan.co.za