Stokvels, Social Cohesion and Cyber Platforms in Post-Apartheid South Africa

This paper examined the role of stokvels in enhancing social cohesion. It attempted to reveal how the usage of cyber platforms positively and negatively affects social cohesion within these associations. The paper employed qualitative research methods to source for a wide range of materials that provide scholarly narrative on the nexus among the concepts: stokvels, social cohesion and cyber platforms. The researcher also adopted content analysis as a tool to source qualitative data from published scholarly papers on social cohesion, social capital, Information and information and communications technology (ICT), cyber, social media and stokvels. Longitudinal data analysis was employed as a research design to study developmental trends across the life span of these stokvels and how they positively or negatively affect social cohesion amongst members and within communities. This paper argued that stokvels contribute to social cohesion when people frequently assist each other financially within their communities and when they come into consistent contact with one another in their continuous physical meetings. In addition, the usage of cyber platforms for all stokvels engagements as well as practices of cyber (Online) based stokvels undermines social cohesion amongst members. This is because the practice of cyber stokvels or usage of cyber platforms for operations of these associations limits physical contact among members of these stokvels associations.