Etwatwa Braai Club is not just any kind of stokvel.

Established in 2011 by Etwatwa Tavern owner Elvis Mohale “Ticky” Kgatle, the stokvel based in Tzaneen, Limpopo, has several legs – a meat club, burial society and they strive to tackle gender-based violence (GBV) head-on.

Kgatle formed the stokvel after becoming concerned with how men in his area were spending their money mainly on entertaining themselves.

“Men frequent the tavern, and they often spend their money on other stuff and tend to forget about their families and responsibilities. They leave their wives and children at home without food.

“It was with this realisation that I decided to start the stokvel. The main aim was to help them save as a group so that at the end of the year they have lots of meat to take home. In that way, their families would have something to eat.

“I also wanted to make sure that they have some money in times of bereavement and added the burial society,” Kgatle said.

He said a lot of men showed interest when he started the stokvel but  later some left for various reasons, including financial problems.

The stokvel currently has 14 members.

“The tough economic times have made it hard for some people to stay on. Many left because they were not able to keep up with the payments but I remain optimistic that we will grow. We will overcome these challenges,” he said.

Kgatle said members contributed R300 every month for meat, which they bought at the end of the year and shared equally among themselves.

“For the burial society, a member can have up to 10 people under his name. These may include immediate family members and relatives.

“Club members contribute R100 every month towards the burial society and it pays out R5,000 for immediate family members and R2,500 for relatives.”

Kgatle said they meet monthly to talk about finances and growth among other things.

“Our wish is to grow so much that we don’t only help each other but we also help the community. At this stage our platform allows our members to speak about anything. We encourage and guide each other, and we talk about issues of gender-based violence. We would like to do more to help fight GBV, which is killing our communities.

“We would like to get help from counsellors who can also assist us with problems we face as men. Our members know that they can talk openly about anything, and I would like to see us take the knowledge we gain to the community at large,” Kgatle said.

mashabas@sowetan.co.za