Vukuzenzele is a Zulu word that loosely means wake up and do it for yourself.
True to this club’s name, Vukuzenzele Stokvel Club members are doing it for themselves!
Their main reason for existing is that they were tired of complaining about life and decided instead to form a stokvel to empower them financially.
Vukuzenzele was formed in Winterveldt – better known as Sgandaf – north of Tshwane, in 2013. Four years later the club is stronger than ever!
It has 42 members, of whom 15 are women and 27 men.
The members meet on every Sunday at one of three venues.
Members contribute R50, which goes to the week’s recipient, with R30 extra for food and drinks.
Chairman Johannes “Macrowd” Phiri (37) said that he has achieved a lot through the club even though it might not seem like a lot of money to others.
“This club has enabled me to be debt-free because I am now able to buy items such as plasma TVs and clothes in cash.”
He said they are not looking back on the past but instead they focus on working hard and praying for growth.
Laying out the club’s vision, Macrowd told the SunStokvel team: “Ten years from now we want to see our club being one of the big clubs in town and gathering as much support as possible.”
Member of the club’s disciplinary committee, Bushy Mankga (48), said: “To make sure that members abide by the rules and regulations of the organisation are adhered to, we issue out discipline, such as fines, for any kind of misconduct.”
However Bushy said that the harshest penalty is R200 and that’s for members engaging in a physical fight with each other.
“Other fines such as speaking vulgar language or letting their cellphones ring during meetings costs R50.”
