In 2015, the Sanlam Foundation, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and the ASISA Foundation partnered to develop and deliver a financial literacy project – Project Qaphela – for NUM members. Qaphela is a Nguni word meaning “to be alert/aware/smarter”.
The pilot project aimed to achieve the successful transfer of financial knowledge and skills relevant to the day-to-day lives of workers in the short term, and influencing a positive change in their financial behaviour in the long term.
Content was focussed at workers specifically and included basic financial literacy. Messages were conveyed in interactive face-to-face workshops which were complemented by edutainment and opt-in SMSes incorporating financial tips aligned to the content.
The content themes included planning with money, budgeting and saving, borrowing and indebtedness, understanding payslips, and saving for retirement.
Independent monitoring and evaluation indicated that Project Qaphela successfully achieved overall knowledge and skills transfer to the different target audiences.
