For many years Nontethelelo Nkonzo struggled to live a proper life. A single mother of two girls and a boy, she was born in Umzimkhulu and lived with relatives from the age of six in Nositha village near Margate. She did not finish matric because of lack of funds.
Nkonzo joined a savings group in 2015 with the goal of building a house for her kids. Her income of less than R2500 per month comes from a social grant and the stipend she receives from the community crèche.
The share-out of R8150 for 2016 and 2017 enabled her to build a two-room house of bricks, as well as a bed, food, clothes and school uniforms. During the savings cycle, she had taken loans from the group to buy zinc sheets for the roof, cement and sand.
The following year Nkonzo used her share-out money to pay for the registration of her older daughter at university and to extend her house by one more room. She plans to buy more furniture this year.
“I was happy because I had the opportunity to build a house of bricks and move from the shack where I used to be scared on winter because I wasn’t secure from fire,” she said. “I’ve also managed to get my two kids to tertiary education. I thank SaveAct for helping our communities and teaching us to save money so that we can reach our goals.”