Blue Chip Issue 86

CLIENT ENGAGEMENT | Financial literacy
BLUE
CHIP
Ihave had the pleasure of interacting with many people who
do not speak indigenous South African languages socially
throughout my career. What always intrigues me about
these interactions is that topics such as inheritance or the
latest cryptocurrency are often part of the conversations in the
most casual social settings like braais for speakers of English and
Afrikaans. I found this quite fascinating because these kinds of
discussions rarely come up in social settings or media channels
that cater to or appeal to speakers of African languages.
These are some of the realisations that propelled me to create
my podcast, Epokothweni with Babalwa Nonkenge, and to the
best of my knowledge Epokothweni is the first platform of its
kind which produces personal finance content in an indigenous
South African language in podcast format. I believe that the lack
of such content is directly linked to the high rates of financial
illiteracy among South Africans.
The word epokothweni is derived from an expression in
isiXhosa – “ukungena epokothweni” which directly translated
means to “enter into someone’s pocket”. This is a euphemism
for overstepping boundaries; doing or saying something that
is not socially or culturally acceptable. In some African cultural
settings, the pocket has always been a realm of mystery where
no-one else besides the owner purportedly knows what is going
on inside it. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the subject of
money seems to be one that no-one was consciously taught
in homes or schools – meaning that one can surmise that most
adults just wing it and hope for the best.
The taboo regarding money matters creates a secrecy and
fear of saying something as simple as, “I don’t understand, please
help me.” The area of personal finances is one full of English
jargon and terminology which is difficult to understand even
for degreed individuals. The issue is further compounded in the
case of individuals who have little or no schooling and yet they
enter into financial commitments on a daily basis.
Epokothweni bridges this gap in that it gives individuals
access to content for free, in their own time and as they wish.
They interact with the podcast via social media. Since inception
in June 2021, each of our episodes is informed by the north
star which is to give dignity to the speakers of indigenous
languages by producing accessible conversations in the second
most spoken language in South African homes. The podcast is
available via all major podcast platforms and can be accessed
via virtually all smart phones regardless of location.
Epokothweni with Babalwa Nonkenge
Website: www.epokothweni.co.za
Social media handles: @Epokothweni
Email: Babalwa@epokothweni.co.za
WhatsApp line: 0726507641
Anecdotal evidence suggests that
the subject of money seems to be
one that no-one was consciously
taught in homes or schools.
The podcast has grown to be a space for conversation and
cocreation, a step taken deliberately – because the style is
conversational and borrows from the storytelling technique which
is quite an entrenched knowledge-sharing education and oral
history method for most African language speakers. Cocreation is
a very important aspect of what we do. We do not merely translate
from English as this would be a limitation because some of the
terminology does not exist in indigenous African languages. We
also use the phrase “financial stewardship” to describe the work
we do via the podcast as this demonstrates the idea that one can
be a good steward of their money whether they make R1 000 per
month or R1 000 000 per month.
In the early days of the podcast, we spent quite a bit of time
educating listeners about what a podcast is and how to subscribe to
one because our audiences simply didn’t know what a podcast was
– historically relying mainly on radio and television for information.
Currently, the podcast enjoys support from Nguni language
speakers as far afield as Germany, UAE, Kenya and the US. In
June 2022, the podcast was awarded the Pan South African
Language Board award for multi-lingualism in the Business and
Technology category. We have been asked by various corporates
to provide financial wellness coaching to individuals and groups
(in English). We have also produced and published some pieces
of commissioned content by two prominent financial services
providers. In future, we hope to build life stage applications and
to design courses that individuals and groups can purchase and
consume in their own time.
The appeal of Epokothweni has
extended beyond those who are mother
tongue speakers of IsiXhosa (our main
language of delivery). The feedback
we are getting points to the fact that
our growth is being spurred on by our
simplicity of delivery and empathy in our
approach to conversations as part of the
success formula for the podcast.
One of our dreams is to offer the
material in more African languages, and
to this end we are always on the lookout
for opportunities to collaborate with likeminded
professionals within the financial
services sector.
Babalwa Nonkenge,
Personal Finance Expert,
Entrepreneur and
Award-Winning Podcaster
www.bluechipdigital.co.za
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