Lwazi Dekeda Inc.

27/08/2026

⚖️ CAN YOUR STOKVEL CHARGE INTEREST? — THE LAW, MADE SIMPLE

Stokvels help millions of South Africans save together. Many also lend money from the pot to their members. Here is what the law says — in plain language.

WHAT MAKES A REAL STOKVEL?

In the eyes of the law, a real stokvel:

✅ Is two or more people who chose to join;

✅ Puts everyone's contributions into one shared pot;

✅ Lends from that pot to its members;

✅ Lets members share the profits and choose the leaders; and

✅ Runs by its own written rules.

It should also belong to NASASA or another approved stokvel body — that is what allows it to collect and pool members' money lawfully. And a group that exists only to lend money at interest is not a stokvel, no matter what it calls itself.

CAN THE STOKVEL CHARGE INTEREST? YES — IF IT'S DONE RIGHT.

A real stokvel may lend its pot to its members and charge interest, without a credit-provider licence, as long as:

🔹 The rules allow the loan and the interest;

🔹 The rate was agreed before the money was paid out;

🔹 Everything is written down and properly recorded;

🔹 The same terms apply to every member; and

🔹 The interest is fair — courts will not enforce interest that is excessive.

One more built-in protection: unpaid interest may never grow larger than the amount still owed.

LENDING YOUR OWN MONEY IS DIFFERENT.

If you lend your own personal money to a fellow member and charge interest, the stokvel's protection does not cover you. Unless it is a genuine family-type loan where neither side is out to profit from the other, the law may require you to register as a credit provider first — even for a single loan.

THE PRICE OF GETTING IT WRONG

Lend at interest without registering when you should have, and the court must cancel the loan agreement. You may claim back the money you lent — but the interest, and the deal you thought you had, are lost.

WHEN THE PROTECTION FALLS AWAY

❌ Lending to people who are not members;

❌ Loans the stokvel's rules do not allow;

❌ Interest that was never agreed upfront;

❌ A member lending personal money for personal profit;

❌ A "stokvel" that is really a moneylending business in disguise.

Calling it a stokvel does not make it one. Courts look at how the group really operates.

THE LESSON

A written constitution. Proper records. Written loan agreements. These protect the stokvel — and every member in it.

Before your stokvel lends, or you borrow, speak to us first.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Lwazi Dekeda Inc.
Attorneys | Notaries | Conveyancers
📞 043 050 6630 | 💬 060 432 5451 | ✉️ [email protected]

"Let justice roll on like a river…"

24/08/2026

Your marital regime affects far more than you may realise.

This Wednesday on 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤, attorney 𝐙𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐢 explains what happens to your estate when you are married in community of property or under an antenuptial contract, and why it matters when one spouse dies.

General legal information, not advice.

24/08/2026

20/08/2026

Yesterday morning, our Director, Mr D, had the privilege of spending a few hours with the law students of Eduvos East London.

Mr D was there as a guest lecturer, speaking on building a career in conveyancing and notarial practice — what drew him to the specialisation, how his path unfolded, what the work actually looks like week to week, and what it takes to do it well. He was joined by our candidate legal practitioners, Zintle Vili and Cwenga Belani.

What struck us most was the hunger in that room. These are young minds genuinely thirsty for knowledge, and their questions reached well beyond the semester in front of them. They wanted to know how to bridge the theory of law and the actual practice of law — the very gap that decides who thrives after graduation.

A good number of them were also keen to learn more about our practical vocational training programme, which we will be pursuing from 2027.

Thank you to Eduvos for a forward-thinking initiative; partnering with business so that students get real insight into the world of work, and are prepared and skilled for it. And thank you to the lecturers and student leaders, pictured here, who made us so welcome.

Let justice flow. ⚖️

11/08/2026

Do you need a family trust — or do you just think you do?

This Wednesday on Legal Link, director Lwazi Dekeda explains what a trust really does and when it helps.

🎙️ Link FM — Wisdom Wednesdays, 16:10
🌐 www.ldekedainc.co.za · Vincent
General information, not advice.

28/07/2026

Do you have a valid will, and does someone know where to find it?
This Wednesday on Legal Link, LDI Candidate Attorney Zintle Vili explains why a will matters, what makes it valid, and when it should be updated.

14/07/2026

We're on air. 📻

Lwazi Dekeda Inc is the proud sponsor of Legal Link on LINK FM.

Every second week, Lwazi Dekeda and Zintle Vili take to the airwaves to unpack the law that affects you and your family — your rights when you are arrested, what happens to the home when a marriage ends, what property transfers actually cost this year, why a business needs a shareholders' agreement. No jargon. No assumptions. Just clear legal knowledge, freely given.

This is our community outreach initiative, and the goal is a simple one: to link LINK FM's listeners to legal education. Too many people lose out not because they have no rights, but because nobody ever told them what those rights were. We would like to change that, one broadcast at a time.

🎙 Legal Link on LINK FM
📅 Bi-weekly
🕟 16:10 – 16:30
📻 97.1 FM | 92.1 FM

Look out for our adverts on air, too. Tune in — and tell a friend who needs to hear it.

📞 043 050 6630 | WhatsApp 060 432 5451
📍 20 Donald Road, Vincent, East London
🌐 www.ldekedainc.co.za

Let Justice Flow.

16/06/2026

On 16 June 1976, a generation of young South Africans stood up in Soweto with nothing in their hands but conviction. They were not yet lawyers, leaders or landowners. They were learners. Yet they understood what the powerful had forgotten — that a people's future is decided by what its youth are permitted to know, to learn, and to become.

Today we honour that courage. But honour without imitation is hollow. So this Youth Day, we choose to do more than remember. We choose to transfer.

At Lwazi Dekeda Inc., we believe legacy is not what you accumulate — it is what you successfully hand over. Wealth that cannot be transferred is not a legacy; it is a possession that dies with you. The same is true of wisdom, of skill, of access, of the hard-won knowledge of how doors are opened. We are the current custodians of a long inheritance, and the measure of our stewardship is not how much we hold, but how faithfully we pass it on.

This is why our younger colleagues, Sipokazi and Zintle, matter to us in a way that goes beyond the work. The seasoned among us carry a duty the law itself would recognise as fiduciary — to pour out, deliberately and without scarcity, the wisdom and skill that was poured into us. To mentor is not a favour we grant; it is a debt we repay.

Knowledge hoarded decays. Knowledge given away is the only kind that multiplies.
But inheritance is a covenant, and covenants have two sides. To the young we say plainly: what is handed to you is not for your comfort — it is your commission. You are not the destination of this legacy; you are a bridge in it. Receive the wisdom, but sharpen it for problems we have not yet imagined. Do not merely consume the inheritance — extend it, and one day hand it down richer than you found it.

The generation of 1976 did not fight so that you could arrive; they fought so that you could carry on.

Scripture frames our name and our work: "Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." (Amos 5:24) A river is never the same water twice, yet it never ceases to flow — each generation a stretch of the same stream, receiving from upstream and giving to those below.

To every young South African still rising: the baton is real, the responsibility is yours, and the river is moving. Receive well. Build boldly. And when your time comes, pour out as generously as it was poured into you.
Happy Youth Day.

11/06/2026

What happens to your home, your savings, and your children if you pass away without a will? 💔

For too many South African families, the answer is heartbreak — children nearly losing the roof over their heads, families discovering too late that the property they thought was theirs belongs to someone else on paper.

This Thursday on The New Economy, Kholi & Mawande sit down with attorney Mr Lwazi Dekeda to unpack estate planning in turbulent economic times — protecting your wealth, your family and your legacy. 🏠⚖️

We're talking:
✅ Why so many working families never draft a will — and what it costs them
✅ How to protect multi-generational family property
✅ The practical steps to take NOW, before it's too late
✅ Where customary law and civil law clash — and how to navigate both

This is a conversation every family needs to hear.

📅 Thursday, 11 June
🕕 18:00 – 19:00
📍 Watch live: www.thevoicelounge.co.za/live

Tag someone who needs to hear this. Your legacy deserves protection. 💛