Stokvel Talk CEO Eric Phiri was only 14 when his home was broken into and money, which his mother who was a treasurer of a stokvel had hidden under a mattress, was stolen in 1990.

Phiri says information was leaked that his mother had thousands of rand of grocery stokvel savings in their home, which resulted in the robbery in Dan Village in Tzaneen, Limpopo.

It was the brazenness and the fear that it could happen again, as stokvels back then did not have bank accounts and could only keep money they contributed at the homes of some of their leaders, that stuck with Phiri as he grew up.

“The incident left a scar in my heart. I have not been able to forget that experience because it was a traumatic incident,” he says.

“Each month, they [stokvel members] would give her the money because she was the treasurer. At that time the only way was to put it under the mattress so that in December, they could take all the money and divide it … to get an equal share.

“They would then buy groceries. One of them leaked information and we were robbed at gunpoint.”

This was the main reason Phiri, 46, founded Stokvel Talk five years ago to educate stokvels about setting goals, financial literacy, forming cooperatives and giving legal advice.

He says they have Stokvel Talk roadshows, an initiative which sees them visit different areas once a month where they invite stokvels to join them, and have experts address them on numerous issues, including finances and legal matters.

“We get financial experts to talk to stokvels about what they can do with the money they have to get better returns and what they can do for security purposes.

“We also call product owners to come and talk about which product is highest in the market place. We have even taken it further to say stokvels deserve a special discount, and as Stokvel Talk we negotiate better deals with retailers on behalf of stokvel groups,” Phiri says.

He says Stokvel Talk is also moving to teach stokvels about forming cooperatives, which could lead to job creation in their communities.

“When you are a stokvel, you are regarded as a social entity. If you want to go to a bank to borrow money, they will not give it to you because they will tell you, you don’t have legal standing, you’re just a social entity.

“What we are doing now is to teach stokvels about cooperatives. When you are a cooperative, which is a group of people coming together to start a business, then you have legal standing. Banks and the government will listen to you.

“We also teach them how to sustain it because it is good enough to start a business but if you don’t know how to sustain it, it becomes problematic,” he says.

Phiri says it was good for stokvels to start cooperatives because people in the group know each other.

“You know the abilities and strengths of each individual. Once you form a cooperative as a stokvel, you’re forming a business… You know who is good at what.”

He says once a cooperative is formed in a township, then stokvel members can put word out about what they do.

“If you are focusing on tailoring, you can contact local schools and make uniforms for them. So, in the long run you can create a lot of jobs because those schools will no longer go to town to buy uniforms, they will come to you.

“You have the ability to create jobs,” he says, adding that the stokvel would also be contributing to the local gross domestic product in their area.

He says since its establishment, Stokvel Talk has reached out to more than 8,000 stokvel groups in Limpopo and Gauteng.

“We are uniting stokvels in Gauteng and Limpopo. This organisation is united. When there is something stokvels want, they know who to contact,” he says.

Their aim is to branch out to other provinces.

Long-term goals

Phiri says Stokvel Talk aims to create its own products for stokvels.

“We are working very hard now in Soweto to build a distribution centre, which will service stokvel groups that own spaza shops so that they no longer have to go to town to buy stock. They can just order their stock and we will supply those spaza shops with the stock they want.

“If we can achieve that, we will be happy.”

Stokvel Talk currently has five members and uses freelancers from areas where they hold roadshows.

Phiri warns against WhatsApp stokvels because most of the people in those groupings do not know each other.

He stresses that it is important to know the people you’re going into a stokvel with because it will be easier to find them when matters arise.

Why are you joining a stokvel?

Phiri says it is also important for someone to know what they want to achieve before joining a stokvel.

“Stokvels have end goals. What we also encourage stokvels to do is to ask themselves questions like what goals do they want to achieve.

“Is it for groceries in December or to buy uniforms in January or do you want to extend your house? You can get into a group to start saving towards that goal.

“Ask yourself what you want to achieve and at the end of the year, ask yourself if you have been able to achieve your dreams. For you to be able to say whether you have achieved anything, you will need to look at the questions you asked yourself at the beginning of the year.”

Stokvel Talk will hold a roadshow at Nwamitwa Tribal Hall in Tzaneen on Saturday.

mashabas@sowetan.co.za