“FOR many years we couldn’t afford to buy gifts for each other’s birthdays.
“It was a problem we wanted to solve, so we came to an agreement: each time one of us had a birthday, the rest of us would contribute R100 that would be used to buy a nice gift for the celebrant.
“We all agreed it was a good idea, so we started the club in January,” said Cynthia Manganyi, the head member of Return Africa Birthday Club.
Cynthia said records of the contributions are kept in a book, but it shows how successful the idea can become.
“We pay R2 500 to our birthday colleague, but we leave it up to the person if he or she wants to celebrate with family or us.”
Return Africa has 25 members, and all of them celebrated a birthday by visiting the Kruger National Park.
Ezra Shikwalakwala, another Return Africa member, told SunStokvel: “This club has played such a huge role in my life.
“With the contributions that I get from my colleagues, I’m able to buy myself a birthday cake and shower myself with lots of gifts.
“I encourage other people who work for companies to start their own birthday clubs at their workplaces,” he said.
