15 Dec 2025

For many motshelo members, the end of the year is a moment of great anticipation, the long-awaited sharing of dividends after months of faithfully contributing to the communal pot.
Traditionally, these year-end gatherings are grand occasions. Members mostly women, arrive dressed to impress, ready for a celebratory lunch where profits or food packages are shared. After a year of disciplined contributions, the payout serves not only as financial relief but as a boost of pride ahead of Christmas festivities and the journey home to the village, where spending power often translates into status.
But there have always been the occasional spoilers: the treasurer who disappears, the member who vanishes with outstanding contributions, the mysteriously switched-off phone  and the now famous line, “Buka ya motshelo e jelwe ke dipeba” (the rats have eaten the motshelo accounting book).
Such festive-season tales have circulated on social media for years, recounting members who go missing well into the New Year.
Increasingly, however, those mishaps are becoming rare as motshelo groups tighten their governance.
“The motshelo I am part of is very organised,” says Serowe-born, Gaborone-based multimedia designer Tswelelo Kgakge. “We have a committee with a chairperson, secretary and treasurer, and we use a mobile money group savings account where every withdrawal must be approved by all members.”
She says her team of women runs like a well-oiled machine, with checks and balances that build trust.
“Beginning of the year, we make our contributions. As the year continues, members can borrow from the common pool and repay with interest. At year-end, we share the dividends. One member hosts us for a lunch where everything is distributed — all very orderly.”
Motshelo functions as a voluntary financial cooperative, where members contribute agreed amounts into a shared fund. The money may then be released to individuals on a rotational basis, often generating income through interest before a collective payout at year-end. It also doubles as a rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) for major expenses — funerals, school fees, groceries or even construction projects.
Modelled closely on South Africa’s communal stokvel system, motshelo has historically relied on trust and solidarity. Over time, however, it has modernised through digital applications, formal banking products and clearer accounting procedures.
Award-winning sports journalist Ms Anastasia Sibanda agrees that modern structures have reduced disputes.
“Commercial banks now offer fixed deposit motshelo accounts, and mobile money providers have group savings solutions. This improves accountability and ensures a clear paper trail,” she says.
Sibanda has belonged to a ten-member motshelo since 2011. The group charges a joining fee, makes regular contributions, allows members to borrow at 20 percent interest, and divides the earnings once members reach their agreed threshold.
“We are well structured — chairperson and treasurer as signatories to the account, a secretary, and a disciplinary coordinator who handles disputes. Everything is transparent. A spreadsheet is published monthly in the WhatsApp group, and members must approve any release of funds,” she explains.
Such measures ensure that members are now far less vulnerable to “the rats” — real or metaphorical — that once threatened to spoil the festive cheer by devouring the money or the accounting book. ENDS