Men-only stokvel thrives on spirit of brotherhood

“We don’t care about your money, we care about brotherhood.”

This is how Sihlangene Social Club spokesperson Siphiwe Khuzwayo describes the men-only stokvel.

Based in Vosloorus, on the East Rand, Sihlangene is more than just a stokvel and puts a lot of value on brotherhood.

It was established in 2018 by a group of friends after one of them had a bereavement and because most of them were unemployed and couldn’t help with the burial, they decided to start a social club to allow them to help each other in times of need.

“When you’re friends and one of you has a bereavement and you’re unable to help, it looks bad. Hence we decided to start the social club to be able to assist one another.

“We opted to find a service provider but over the years, we decided to become self-sufficient. Instead of using a service provider, we run it ourselves.”

Khuzwayo says dropping the service provider and investing the money themselves has helped because they have accumulated interest.

“It [dropping service provider] was not an easy decision. It took about five months or so before we could agree,” he says, adding that some members were worried about what would happen if they had a bereavement.

“We ended up saying, [as we start doing this ourselves], we will take money out of our own pockets to help a member who has a bereavement. Fortunately for us, for a period of two years after we started that, we didn’t have any funerals.

“We opened an account and started putting in money and obviously it gained interest every month. It has grown from where we started to a point where we can even be able to service more than 20 beneficiaries should anything happen today.

“All that money could have gone to a service provider… It made sense for us to stand on our own and put it in an interest-bearing account,” says Khuzwayo.

He empasises the importance of brotherhood.

“It is creating that brotherhood environment where we know we can rely on each other, where our families know they can rely on each other. When one of our members passed, his mother who had only him as a child said, ‘You are the only children I have now’.

“That sense that the mother can depend on us leaves an indelible mark. This means we are playing a huge role in what we are doing,” Khuzwayo says.

He says the social club had older people who take time to listen to younger ones to assist them with anything they may need and give advice where needed.

“The reason we don’t do this in the stokvel meetings is because everywhere you go, even in families, there will be those individuals who will take society matters and expose them to the world. So, we said we should avoid that and rather have elders in the society available where there is a need.”

He says their constitution guides them and they let go of members who don’t make contributions for three months and if one misses three consecutive meetings, they are let go.

“That is how serious we are about this. We don’t care about your money, we care about brotherhood. Let’s meet every month, let’s have society talk but most importantly, let’s unite as brothers, let’s be together as brothers, let’s grow as brothers,” Khuzwayo says.

Sihlangene Social Club started with 15 members and now has 35.

They contribute R400 every month, which covers 10 people, including the main member.

It covers people up to the age of 75 and pays out R20,000 when there is a bereavement.

“However, we do make an exception if it is your [members’] parents or guardian, if they are above the age of 75. They [elderly] are high risk. We learnt this from our previous service provider. They can die at any time and that impacts premiums.

“We are avoiding a scenario where someone joins and adds an elderly person, knowing that they are about to die because they want a payout,” Khuzwayo says.

However, he says the stokvel would not kick out people who turn 75.

So, if you are 74 and want to join, they would allow you.

He says over and above the stokvel, they play an important role in assisting children in need of groceries and clothes.

Khuzwayo says they’ve also donated a wheelchair to a child.

“Most of the time we get approached by individuals who ask if we are able to assist with anything. There was an instance where we assisted with the burial of a child because the parents did not have anything.

“The money came from each members’ pocket. We also take money from our pockets to buy food we donate to the needy,” says Khuzwayo, adding that they did this to ensure that the stokvel always has money to pay out when a member has a bereavement.

He says the social club has had less than 15 burials, including those of members, since it was started.

On plans to grow the stokvel, Khuzwayo says their aim is to have 40 members for now. Their joining fee is R6,000.

mashabas@sowetan.co.za