Police on the West Coast have been warning residents against stokvel payments in cash because of the large sums involved.
Captain Tania Helfrich, the spokesperson for the West Coast police district, said that people at a stokvel meeting in Citrusdal were robbed at gunpoint early on the morning of Monday 13 May.
A stokvel is a popular invitation-only club of 12 or more people that serves as a rotating credit union or saving scheme.
Helfrich said around 04:00 a 32-year-old woman from Lesotho and other people were still at their meeting when the complainant went outside to the bathroom. There she was threatened by three robbers wearing balaclavas.
They were armed with firearms and took the woman’s mobile phone and cash. They then demanded more money.
When she refused one of the men hit her over the head with a firearm and forced her to go back to where the other people were.
The other members of the group were already lying on the ground.
The robbers fled with three mobile phones, R2 100 in cash, a music player and a portable cellphone power bank. No-one had been apprehended in connection with the robbery at the time of going to press.
Helfrich urges stokvel members rather to transfer the money electronically than withdraw huge amounts of cash.
The National Stokvel Association of South Africa (NSASA) describes a stokvel as a type of credit union in which a group of people enters into an agreement to contribute a fixed amount of money to a common pool weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Worldwide this is known as a rotating savings and credit association and is not unique to South Africa.
They are, for example, known as Chama in Swahili-speaking East Africa, Tandas in South America, Partnerhand in the West Indies, Cundinas in Mexico, Ayuuto in Somalia, Gam’eya in the Middle East, Tanomoshiko in Japan and Pandeiros in Brazil.
Members receive a lump sum on a rotational basis, and they are free to use the money for any purpose.
According to NSASA, such contributions are usually made in cash, but several groups are beginning to deposit funds into member’s bank accounts.
Other forms of stokvels include ones for the buying of groceries, to save, burial societies and investment clubs.
Some stokvels have constitutions that dictate the size of the contributions, when the accumulated money is to be paid out, and the roles and responsibilities of the members.
