A fellow Basic Income fan describes it as 'the Stokvel that went to Harvard'. A Stokvel is a by-invitation club that pools money and then assists each member of the community in turn. The word derives from the stock fairs of English Settlers in the Eastern Cape. Post Napoleon, the English pushed into Southern Africa to establish settlements on the frontiers between the isiXhosa and the Dutch colony. There is a beautiful twist that the word now has an Afrikaans (African Dutch) flavour and the concept is used by approximately 1/3 black South African adults. Stokvels have a commonly agreed constitution, dictating contributions, how the money is paid out, and the roles and responsibilities of the members. A Community Wealth Fund that paid 150 basic incomes to its members would be a self-financed Stokvel.
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