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Testimonials

Mah Gladys Nyathikazi

Mah Gladys Nyathikazi was born in Molweni in KwaZulu Natal in 1949 where she is currently residing and passed her Forms 5 (equivalent of Matric) in 1963.  She is formerly from the Mabhidha family and is married and has 7 children, 8 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.  She has worked at Highbury High School and the Doon Village Old Age Home in Manors, Pinetown.

She heard about savings and credit groups when she was attending sewing training in KwaNyuswa in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.  The group was asked to attend a presentation by Siyakhula Sonke.  She became interested in joining a group after the presentation and then requested the Siyakhula Sonke Team to come to Molweni to help them establish a group, which was done in 2015.

Before joining the programme Gladys recounts that life was very difficult because she only relied on her pension money to provide for her children and grandchildren. For her there has been a huge change in her life since she joined because; she is able to buy things that she could not afford before.

Her excitement about becoming a member of a savings group led to her employment as a part-time Community Based Promoter with Siyakhula Sonke and this has enabled her to have regular income and through her group membership access to cash in the form of affordable loans whenever the need arises.

She has used the money from loans and her share out to:

  • Buy a lounge and dining room suite for cash;
  • Extend her house;
  • Build a double garage

Her future plans are to use the money that she will borrow or get as a share out to:

  • Buy roofing materials for her additional rooms that she is building; and
  • Buy furnishings for the new rooms.

Gladys says the lives of her family have benefited a great deal.  She is now able to have enough money to meet her personal needs and buy things for her grandchildren whenever the need arises.

For those thinking of joining a group her message is:

“… once you have joined, you will never need to buy anything on credit.”

Bongi Mkhize

Bongiwe Annacletta Mkhize, or Bongi as she is affectionately known was born on 18 September 1982 in Thusumuntu in KwaNyuswa in the Valley of a Thousand Hills west of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She has four children, who she supports.  She joined a savings group in 2017 after hearing about savings groups from one of friends that she grew up with.  She joined because she saw the system as being a better system than having to borrow money from the “Mashonisas” (Loan Sharks). Life before joining a Savings Group was very difficult because she was not working and was relying on a grant as her only source of income.

There has been such an improvement in her situation since being involved in the Siyakhula Sonke SCGs that two of her daughters and her sister have also decided to join a savings group.

The money that has been saved through the group has allowed her to:

  • Buy windows for her house;
  • Buy a refrigerator;
  • Install a tap for clean running water;
  • Buy school uniforms;
  • Pay for her youngest son’s school transport

The lives of her family have definitely improved through the system and looking to the future she wants to use the money saved and made to extend her house. For those thinking of joining her message is “That instead of borrowing from Mashonisas, they should join a savings group so that they can pay less interest, and the interest charged from the money they borrow from their group will benefit them instead of someone else.”

Bongi is also now helping other by having become a Community Based Promotor for SCGs that are being assisted by Siyakhula Sonke.

She will also tell that joining a Savings and Credit Group is a safe system and unlike other savings clubs, members are not forced to borrow fixed amounts of money even if they do not need to. People only borrow what they feel they need to.

The lives of her family have definitely improved through the system.

Thabi Nobesutho Patience Shoba

Thabi was born on 28 November 1971 in Meadowlands in Gauteng. She is married and has five children.  She completed Grade 10 in 1989. Thabi joined a savings and credit group in 2015 and in 2018 she volunteered to join Siyakhula Sonke in November 2018 as a Community Based Promoter. She loves attending church and does sewing when she is not working.  She would like to see members of Savings and Credit Groups that Siyakhula Sonke Trust is working with improve their lives.

Initially she was a member of a Self-Help Group that was started in 2013 and was interested in establishing a community garden and making building blocks to sell in the community. Life was a bit difficult before she joined because she relied on “Mashonisas” (Loan sharks) to make ends meet.

She says she no longer has to go to Mashonisas in order to provide for her family.   She has never had to run out of electricity since joining the Savings Group because she used some of the money that she borrowed from the group to buy a machine for selling prepaid electricity vouchers and airtime. This has enabled her to have a regular income.

She has also used the money from loans and her share out to:

  • Build an additional house for the family;
  • Pay registration fee for her daughter who is studying at UKZN and now in her third year.

Looking to the future Thabi She wants to buy a car and build additional houses. Thabi says the lives of her family have improved because of the involvement in the savings group.

For those thinking of joining her message is:

“… it is a safe system that charges interest on loans and members are not forced to borrow pre-agreed amounts during each cycle.”