Stokvel concept has been around as far back as 1938 in South Africa. Stokvels have been a typical survival “homemade bread” for black communities, who way back then did not have any access to formal financial services. Stokvels have evolved over a number of years, from just being burial clubs, groceries stokvels and rotational savings clubs. Some stokvels have become a serious investment channel such as Property Investment, Unit Trust, EFT’s etc.
There is no doubt that in the past 5 months COVID.19 has turned the world upside down. Stokvels are certainly affected by this severe health and economic pandemic. The big question in every stokvel member’s mind or anyone who is interested in the Stokvel Movement is:
Are stokvels ever going to meet on regular basis again?
Are stokvels going to be able to honour and keep up with their monthly savings in the next coming months.
Are stokvel going to continue saving for the usual stuff such as Burial,Groceries, Holiday & Property?
Will stokvels remain relevant in black communities’ lives?
Join me as I try to Map out the future of Stokvels in view of Covid.19 impact.
In writing this newsletter I am inspired by different people who are regard as my business mentors, and one of them is Clem Sunter. Clem Sunter, futurologist, scenario planner and co-author of best seller “Mind of a Fox”
This is what Clem Sunter says about the impact of Covid.19 in our lives.
“”The latest pandemic has made the world incredibly vulnerable, we all have to be like a fox, In order to survive we need to be agile, adaptive & ready for new situations and change.””
There is whole range of scenarios that I can map out for different types of stokvels. What sticks out in my mind about this current Covid.19 crisis is the following expression: “Never Waste a Good Crisis”
Depending on which side of the stokvel you are? Covid.19 crisis may create new opportunities for you and your stokvel.
According to Dr Norman Chivasa is a post-doctoral fellow at the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, Stokvels can avoid total collapse and the devastating social fallout if they apply the following measures:
Prioritise safety precautions, for instance: avoid holding hard cash but adopt electronic transactions to prevent the spread of the virus. – Was talking to my mother-in-law the other day about their stokvel monthly contribution during Lockdwon. She confidently said to me, “ Oh no, we still assign one person to collect cash from her neighbours and the money is dropped off at the Treasurer’s house, who would then take it to the bank” I can understand my mother-in-law cash collection situation, she is in her late 70’’s. Their stokvel has been around for almost 40 years. I really do not expect younger stokvel generations to be still exchanging hard cash like my mother-in-law’s stokvel. But there are positive financial discipline values that can be learnt from the older generation stokvels.
Keep the lines of communication open to avoid panic; - Be open about your financial situation.
Encourage members to keep in touch regularly via other means as well, such as phone calls or video chat, while maintaining physical distancing.
Dr Norman Chivasa further says, the lockdown has also offered other surprising opportunities for stokvels, such as advocacy for accessible technology and banking services, and the ability to consider how to adapt to change and address radical uncertainty.
Indeed, in line with Clem Sunter’s scenario planning philosophy, stokvels have to start thinking like a Fox. How does a Fox think?
They have very bright eyes and they pick up everything…. Unfortunately, my observation of some stokvels over a number of years is that they operate like hedgehog. They see one single future (Burial, Groceries, some kind of get rich quick investment schemes). A hedgehog sees one single future and makes all his plans around that.
They can pick up changes in the environment quicker than other animals.
They have the agility to respond to those changes.
These characteristics allows foxes to get out of trouble much more quickly and pounce on any opportunities. Fox minded Stokvels will survive this COVID.19 crisis. They will explore and take advantage of new opportunities that were birthed by COVID.19 crisis,
In this Newsletter we share with you and your stokvel community one of Investment opportunities through Cash Converters Franchise.
I cannot wait for the day when we will be doing shopping at a reputable Franchise Store like Cash Converters, owned by a Stokvel member, or Stokvel Group through collective savings.