Stakeholders across the financial services industry including government, corporates, private sector, academics and civil society have joined hands to educate South African’s about the importance of saving. This formed part of an annual campaign during Savings Month led by the South African Savings Institute (SASI).
Even in the face of the global financial crisis and a recession in South Africa, the message to South Africans has been consistent, Save. SASI Chairman Elias Masilela says the financial crisis assisted in elevating the importance of saving and the need for financial literacy, not only in South Africa but the world over. “Bad as it may be for everyone’s well-being, the economic slowdown has helped in getting the message through as it starkly presented the risks and the vulnerability of being unprepared for such eventualities as well as providing a practical basis upon which to build the case to save,” says Masilela. “Among the young, it has exposed them to feeling extremely weak and helpless, a feeling that will be chiseled in their minds for many years to come. Many older people have never seen a bank go bankrupt and witnessing this for the first time in their lifetime has caused allot of confusion and uncertainty. Although these are hard lessons, it provided reasons for people to save.”
This year’s campaign was a resounding success with wide spread support not only from the industry but from consumers as well. A number of outreach activities were conducted with communities including the Teach Children to Save campaign. Approximately 70 000 learners were directly reached throughout the country, by over 950 volunteers from the financial services sector and government departments visiting 412 schools. The target set for this year was 100 000 learners and 300 schools, the programme reached 50 857 learners in 228 schools last year.
Although there is great focus during Savings Month on educating the public, Masilela believes this needs to be intensified throughout the year. The approach of SASI has been to partner with organisations across the financial services industry to impart knowledge and empower communities with the aim of building a savings culture. However, participation from employers across all sectors of the economy is imperative. Masilela believes education of people on the shop floor will have much more direct and impactful results – with a lasting effect. “A people that does not save, poses a huge threat to the development and future economic sustainability of a country. We cannot underestimate the impact of employer employee relationships in education, training and the provision of easy and affordable vehicles for employees to save.” says Masilela
In light of this, SASI will be intensifying its outreach activities throughout the country over the next twelve months.
Masilela says that its efforts and good intentions will only be accomplished with the continued support of its partners like the Industrial Development Corporation, which has been a key funder since inception. “Although the support for this year’s Savings Month was overwhelming more needs to be done and we would like to encourage all stakeholders to continue joining hands with us to improve the savings culture of South Africa,” says Masilela.
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