Working together and saving as a group has become a major driver in savings culture. According to recent Nedbank research, 11 million South Africans are members of stokvels with around R44 billion saved in 820 000 stokvels in South Africa annually. The National Stokvel Association of South Africa also indicated that the stokvel market has been touted to be worth more than some of South Africa’s largest businesses.
The research indicated that 57% of stokvel users are female, with the most popular types of stokvels being grocery stokvels and burial societies. “Two-thirds of grocery stokvels make bulk purchases from various retailers and wholesalers once a year in quarter four”, according to Nedbank. The top savers reside in Gauteng, followed closely by Limpopo and North West and KwaZulu-Natal..
Click here to read an article in The Citizen that also shares more about Maroma Social Club, a stokvel that has been running for four years.
