Savings Month will put the spotlight on numerous SASI projects covering areas of need from the small business field to sports stars, university students to stokvels and roundtable debate.
Key initiatives include:
Savings goals for soccer stars: The programme will take savings tips and learnings on money management, future goal-setting and retirement planning to sports people, with the accent on soccer players. Timing is ideal as South Africa learns there is life after the World Cup. Soccer players will therefore be receptive to the message that there is life after the end of your playing career, but first you have to plan for it.
Workshops with soccer club members in North West Province and northern Gauteng have been held to identify needs so SASI can develop a training model specifically tailored to the needs of sports people. Discussions are under way with the Local Organising Committee of the World Cup to dovetail the SASI intervention with LOC legacy planning.
Varsity financial literacy campaign: The substantial widening of the campaign is imminent as SASI experience on campuses in Gauteng, Western Cape and North West Province confirm the need for a national drive to improve the money management, budgeting and financial goal-setting skills of students at all tertiary education institutions.
To communicate its campaign message ‘Get the Grades While You Save’ SASI works with the university authorities, Student Representative Councils and partners such as the Financial Services Board, the National Credit Regulator and the provincial offices of Consumer Affairs. The intervention takes the form of a savings exhibition, a 45-minute presentation of savings fundamentals and one-to-one counselling of students. Savings awareness is then topped up through campus radio and student publications.
Pilot efforts on campus confirm that many students have little idea of how to manage money. The intention is to increase their savings skills and knowledge of savings products so when they enter the world of work they know how to budget, provide for retirement and handle credit and debt. The knowledge also serves to help these youths make meaningful contribution to household expenditure decisions.
Community interventions: SASI efforts in rural areas will be redoubled during Savings Month. SASI and its specialist service provider work in tandem with government’s local economic development programmes, the provincial offices of Consumer Affairs and municipal officers to reach grass-roots entrepreneurs, stokvels, savings clubs and women’s groups.
Though these communities are often under-resourced and impoverished, many local entrepreneurs develop various sources of income and make efforts to save. Economic benefits have been derived during the World Cup by those providing various goods and services in and around public viewing areas. It is important that this boost to the local economy is not squandered. SASI and its partners provide savings information and guidance on ways of utilising savings, developing a small business or improving one’s skills. Practical help is given on drafting business plans while helping to familiarise local entrepreneurs with basic business terminology.
Teach Children to Save South Africa (TCTS SA): Last year’s National Savings Month flagship event remains a focus area during Savings Month 2010. Under the custodianship of SASI and the Banking Association of South Africa, the intervention takes the savings message to our children, equipping them with basic savings skills and inculcating the savings habit at an early age.
Volunteers from the financial services industry exchange the boardroom for the classroom and deliver a 30-minute to one-hour lesson. The lesson plan is supported by the Department of Education and is designed for inclusion in the Economic and Management Sciences Learning Area of the school curriculum. Lesson content is targeted at grades 4-7.
Women’s Month: The delayed start of Savings Month takes our annual awareness-raising initiative into Women’s Month (August). SASI will optimise natural synergies and shape a savings message for a women’s audience which includes young women, women in business, workplaces, communities etc. Year Two of TCTS SA will be launched in the week of August 23-27, creating a platform for cooperation with Women’s Month initiatives.
Annual Savings Roundtable: This marks the climax of the month’s activities as policymakers, regulators, practitioners, development partners and academics engage in debate around savings issues that shape the lives of our people. Top-level debate has taken on added urgency as South Africa’s household debt as a proportion of disposable income is now at a staggering 80%, while savings by the same group stand at -0.4%. This platform provides a basis for advocacy for the Institute.