African Socio-Economic Empowerment Umbrella Organisation

Lengau People's Society is an African socio-economic empowerment movement and umbrella organisation supporting stokvels, societies and community cooperatives.

Lengau brings people and community-based organisations together around a common mission: contributing to the fight against poverty through saving, responsible lending, cooperation, economic participation and sustainable livelihoods.

Our vision is to contribute to ending poverty among the African child and restoring dignity through economic empowerment.

We believe communities can become stronger when people learn to save together, borrow responsibly, invest wisely, work together and build sustainable livelihoods.

The motto expresses Lengau's belief that poverty is not only an individual challenge.

Through collective organisation, saving, cooperation, responsible lending, entrepreneurship and community economic participation, people can work together to create opportunities and build stronger communities.

Lengau supports and works with:

• Stokvels
• Societies
• Community cooperatives
• Community organisations
• Entrepreneurs
• Families and households
• Young people
• Pensioners
• Small businesses
• Community economic initiatives

Stokvels have a strong tradition of collective saving and mutual support in African communities.

Lengau seeks to strengthen this culture by encouraging financial discipline, responsible lending, investment, cooperation and sustainable economic development.

Lengau promotes and teaches:

• Saving responsibly
• Borrowing responsibly
• Lending responsibly
• Investing wisely
• Avoiding unnecessary debt
• Building sustainable livelihoods
• Working collectively
• Entrepreneurship
• Economic cooperation
• Planning for the future
• Creating opportunities for future generations

It means that saving, borrowing and lending should be approached with discipline and responsibility.

Community organisations should consider affordability, repayment ability, financial sustainability and the long-term interests of their members.

Responsible lending should help people build rather than deepen financial hardship.

Cooperatives can help communities move from individual survival toward collective economic participation.

Depending on their purpose, cooperatives can participate in areas such as agriculture, food production, retail, manufacturing, housing, transport, services, investment and distribution.

Lengau's role is to support and strengthen community economic structures rather than replace them.

Lengau People's Society is an umbrella organisation and support platform for stokvels, societies and community cooperatives.

Its broader purpose is to connect, support and empower community-based organisations that share the objective of economic empowerment and poverty reduction.

Yes.

Existing stokvels, societies and community cooperatives can explore opportunities to work with Lengau, subject to applicable requirements and arrangements.

The objective is to help community organisations become more structured, sustainable and capable of creating economic opportunities for their members.

Sustainability means developing a lifestyle in which individuals and communities manage resources responsibly, reduce unnecessary financial pressure, build productive assets and develop lasting sources of income.

The objective is not simply to survive from month to month, but to build a stronger economic foundation for the future.

Because poverty can affect generations.

Lengau's vision is therefore not only about today's member. It is about helping create a culture where the African child grows up understanding saving, responsibility, cooperation, entrepreneurship and sustainable economic living.

The long-term objective is to contribute to communities where the next generation has knowledge, dignity, opportunity and economic resilience.

Lengau is working toward an ecosystem where:

can support one another and participate in economic development.

The objective is to build organised communities that can collectively contribute to the fight against poverty.

The Lengau Model is based on organised community participation:

Lengau People's Society was established on 15 APRIL 2014.

Lengau's roots are deeply connected to the tradition of collective community saving, mutual responsibility, and economic cooperation across South Africa and the wider region.