So what is the big hype about consumer education?  Normally when that topic came up in any article or discussion, I would basically switch off; until recently when I witnessed a situation where I actually thought consumer education could go a long way. My mother takes part in an annual grocery stokvel group in South Africa.  A stokvel is basically a saving scheme where a group of people contribute fixed sums of money to a central fund on a monthly basis. The scheme in which my mother takes part, is run by a local supermarket which allows individuals to save…

It has been reported in the Business Day today, that the South African Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, in his Budget Vote delivery in Parliament on the 9th of May 2012, proposed a state owned construction firm. The Minister is quoted to have stated that when houses in the government housing programme are built, the state relies on ‘by and large’ inexperienced shovel, wheelbarrow and bakkie brigades. It is important, however, to note and be critical about how and why these ‘inexperienced shovel, wheelbarrow and bakkie brigades’ are working in the housing construction sector in the first place. The…

MBD Credit Solutions, in collaboration with Unisa’s Bureau of Market Research (BMR) have released the 2011 4th quarter Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index (CFVI). The South Africa index measures consumer perception and feelings about the four broad financial categories that impact their lives, these being:  income, expenditure, savings and ability to service debt. The Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index was first incepted in 2009 in collaboration with Finmark Trust.  MBD Credit solutions believes that this index is the most accurate way to gauge consumer financial capabilities. The ability to gauge consumer financial capabilities makes for very useful evaluation and planning for numerous…