Member-perceived Determinants of Resilience of Stokvels Operating in selected Rural Areas of Vhembe District, South Africa

Abstract

Stokvels play crucial roles in the lives of poor households, in particular those that are faced with financial challenges. They contribute to enterprise development, improvement of housing and enhance access to credit and funding of education. However, members of stokvels often experience challenges within their groups and beyond. The current study was designed to explore the factors influencing the resilience of stokvel groups in selected rural areas of Vhembe District. Eighteen respondents were selected through a snowball sampling procedure. An interview guide was used to collect data. Cross-tabulation and thematic content analysis were conducted using IBM SPSS version 27 and Atlas-ti version 8. About 78 % of the respondents were female. The need for expanding stokvels in terms of investments and stock of members; survival and continuity in the hope of transferring legacy to the next generation; and members’ mutual growth such as financial capabilities and family well-being were found to be the major constructs when assessing resilience of stokvels. The constructs were drawn from seven resilience determining factors, namely disciplinary measures, risk-averseness, cohesiveness and team-support, enrolment approach, operating standards, trust and commitment. While factors determining resilience of stokvels are discussed in the literature, the three key resilience constructs present a new line of thinking because little is said about them. It was recommended that stokvels operating in Vhembe District should consider instilling high moral standards among their members and law suits targeting those who might default in payment of monthly premium