海角大神

From the moment she arrived in South Africa in January 2017, Charity Chuma鈥檚 paychecks seemed to slip through her fingers like water.

Each month, nearly as soon as she had the money in her hands, there was a hand outstretched to take it. Her uncle back home in Zimbabwe needed help with rent. Her grandma needed money for medicine. Her mother was struggling to buy groceries.

鈥淲hen people ask,鈥� she says, 鈥渋t is hard not to give.鈥�

So when a colleague at the college dorm where she worked as a housekeeper聽in Johannesburg suggested Ms. Chuma join a saving and lending club 鈥� known locally as a stokvel 鈥� she jumped at the chance.

The premise was simple. Each month, one of the six women received 1,000 rand (about $70) from each of the other five, so that each member got a payout of 5,000 rand (about $330) twice a year. For Ms. Chuma, it was the first time in her life she鈥檇 been able to save a sum anywhere near that large. Within three years, she鈥檇 built a new house her family in Zimbabwe.

Around the world, savings clubs like these 鈥� known to economists as 鈥渞otating savings and credit associations鈥� 鈥� have long bridged gaps between the world鈥檚 poor and formal banks. There are Mexico鈥檚 cundinas and Somalia鈥檚 ayuuto, China鈥檚 hui and Ethiopia鈥檚 ekub. In South Africa, stokvels were an innovation of Black South Africans 鈥� most often Black women 鈥� whom banks refused as clients in the apartheid era and beyond.

And in the past year, as the coronavirus pandemic has ripped through South Africa鈥檚 economy, stokvels have played a particularly important role, acting as a kind of informal social welfare system for many of the country鈥檚 poorest people.

鈥淧eople were determined to keep saving so that they would have something if things got even worse,鈥� says Busi Skenjana, a marketing strategist and founder of the Stokvel Academy, a nonprofit that trains stokvel members in financial literacy. 鈥淭hey were trying to look past this pandemic to the future that came after it.鈥�

Indeed, by First National Bank, one of South Africa鈥檚 major financial institutions, found stokvel savings actually grew during the first few months of the pandemic.

There are many reasons for that, Ms. Skenjana says, but one is the social element of savings clubs. In a traditional stokvel, members know each other personally and hold regular, in-person meetings.

鈥淭hat makes saving a social pact that鈥檚 hard to break,鈥� she says.聽

Banking for themselves

Modern stokvels first became popular in the mid-20th century, when groups of migrant laborers in the country鈥檚 gold and diamond mines began pooling money to help with funeral expenses when a mine worker died on the job.

Those 鈥渂urial societies鈥� were soon copied in the towns and villages those same laborers had left behind. Groups of women would pool their money to save for their children鈥檚 school fees, household purchases like furniture, or bulk orders of grocery staples like maize meal and rice.

鈥淗istorically, as Blacks in South Africa we did not really have access into the formal banking system, and credit was a predatory system even if you could access it,鈥� Ms. Skenjana says. 鈥�Stokvels were a way to avoid that.鈥�

In 2004, just 46% of South Africans . Today, it鈥檚 up to 80%. But for many Black South Africans, the effects of 鈥渃redit apartheid鈥� have persisted in the form of bank charges, high-interest loans, and other barriers to access, says Palesa Lengolo, author of 鈥淪tokvels: How They Can Make Your Money Work For You.鈥�

Like many South African millennials, Ms. Lengolo grew up watching the women in her life use stokvels to insulate themselves and their families against poverty. Her mother, a teacher and single mother of five, was part of a stokvel whose funds community members could borrow and repay at 30% interest. The money she earned sent her children to school, Ms. Lengolo says.

Women like her 鈥渇ound a way around a system that excluded them,鈥� she says.聽

Christmas to Le Creuset

About South Africans are members of a stokvel, across a wide range of social classes.

And these clubs serve a wide range of purposes. Many, like the one joined by Ms. Chuma, the housekeeper in Johannesburg, give rotating cash payouts. Others are used to save money for particular events like funerals or Christmas. Many pool money for bulk grocery orders made once or twice a year. Some stokvels, like the one Ms. Lengolo鈥檚 mother was a member of, are themselves microlenders, making money by giving small loans to community members at high interest rates.

Others serve less conventional purposes. 鈥淚f you can imagine it, there鈥檚 a stokvel for it,鈥� says Ms. Lengolo. She鈥檚 a member, for instance, of a stokvel that she and a group of friends use to save for one international vacation each year. There are several stokvels whose members save money to buy .

In recent years, stokvels are increasingly being used to invest in bigger ticket items like property. Because wealth was concentrated for centuries in the hands of white South Africans, many young Black professionals still pay what鈥檚 known colloquially as a 鈥淏lack tax,鈥� sending funds home to support family members. This often makes it harder for them to buy property or start businesses on their own, compared to their white peers, Ms. Lengolo says.

鈥淎lone, you have all these barriers, but when you pool your money, they begin to fall down,鈥� she says. She herself, for instance, is in a stokvel whose members recently purchased a fast-food restaurant. 鈥淢ost of us couldn鈥檛 have done that on our own,鈥� she notes.

For other young South Africans, the community aspect of stokvels simply provides encouragement and accountability that a bank savings account does not.

鈥淲ith my bank account, I can decide I鈥檓 saving 500 rand this month, 1,000 rand next month. What鈥檚 different with a stokvel is you鈥檙e committing to an amount and making a promise to a group of people that you鈥檒l pay it,鈥� says Refilwe Kgosiemang, a copy writer in Pretoria who has been a member of several stokvels. 鈥淚f I break my commitment, I don鈥檛 just lose my money, I lose socially as well.鈥�