Lisa Mathys single-handedly built a successful clothing manufacturing business, but like all entrepreneurs, she is vulnerable to cash-flow problems. She needs credit to see her through the bad times and capital to keep expanding her enterprise, which is why she’s now...

This article was published by News24.com earlier this year as part of an initiative called Project Rise. We’re reposting it because the pages for this project have been taken down and we think it’s still relevant.  Four years ago, Nolungile Mphathiswa (49) was living...

“Hopes and dreams come alive through saving.” October 31 was World Savings Day. The slogan above, from a website promoting this event, is stirring stuff, but how realistic is it in South Africa, where most people are drowning in debt and feeling the effects of a...

Can banks offer anything close to the rich experience found in the informal sector? Are savings groups and stokvels more valuable than we think? This year, in collaboration with FinMark Trust, SaveAct conducted research into the value of savings groups (SGs) and...

Women who are financially empowered through belonging to savings groups are more confident, less stressed and have better relationships with their husbands. This is one of the findings of our collaborative study with FinMark Trust into the long-term impact of...

Youth Day on June 16 is a sombre reminder of the huge challenges facing South Africa’s young people. But while millions wait for help, savings group member Sonto Ngcobo (28) from tiny Nositha village near Margate is getting on with improving her life. Since her father...

Magriet van Wyk’s dream is to have an indoor toilet. From Kamieskroon, Namaqualand, “Ma Magriet” as she’s known has lived a hard life, raising 12 children mostly single-handed because her husband was a migrant worker. Kamieskroon is a farming community with few...

Reorganisation of the enterprise portfolio has resulted in a huge growth spurt in sales of agricultural products to farmers in SaveAct’s savings groups (SGs) and enterprise focus groups (EFGs). Sales have surged from R32 498 for the whole of 2017 to R99 526 for the...

The long-term impact of belonging to a savings group means members struggle less and are generally more comfortable and resilient. That’s the view of researcher Silvia Storchi after completing fieldwork for the latest FinMark Trust study. Her research is looking at...

Mathapelo Molahlehi’s husband was dubious about joining a savings group, so she registered him with her group and saved for him. “He didn’t know,” she says. “When share-out time came I prepared food and then gave him his share-out. It was R9300.” Her own share-out was...

SaveAct’s savings groups recently took a step into the digital age with the launch of the pilot phase of our app project. Two groups in Margate and two at Table Mountain near Pietermaritzburg have been given tablets loaded with the savings app to test drive before...

Photo: RECIPROCITY Many savings groups resist banking their money for a variety of reasons, but there are moves to change this “When we opened the box we found that the money was missing. We went to the box-keeper’s homestead and found the tools that had been used to...