10 Maharashtra Aurangabad MGM's Dr. G. Y. Pathrikar College of Computer Science and Information Technology PHP and MySQL Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSc. IT) Mapped MAJHARODDIN 01 Jul 2017 37 View Participants this study explores the phenomenon of stokvels − membership--based savings schemes providing for the social and financial wellbeing of their members as well as entertainment (lukhele, 1990). the purpose of the study is to identify the existence of a different kind of economy that is not informed by the capitalist logic. the study aims to examine the values that underpin stokvels and to locate them within a particular socio--cultural and historical context. this is a qualitative research study and my research approach included fieldwork, participant observation, in--depth interviews and the procedure of genealogy. the study, employing these methods, has enabled me to draw a connection between the khumalo clan -- the generation of mzilikazi khumalo who was a friend to king shaka and is argued to have played a pivotal role in building what is known as the zulu nation today – and my uncles. in the six months i spent at esihlengeni, a small village in vryheid, kwazulu--natal, i interviewed 27 people, attended two funerals, one family ritual and conducted two focus group discussions with stokvel women. i found that stokvels are not centred on an african epistemic framework as anticipated in the problem statement but are still within the capitalist logic of profit and thus do not draw from the community’s traditional values. while stokvels are informed by the dominant capitalist logic, the community of esihlengeni still draws from their cosmological worldview that provides them with a different understanding of the economy that is centred on cattle – the means that allow them to perform rituals that guarantee protection and continuity of life -- to make sense of their world. their insistence on the importance of cattle in this community is their cry to be allowed to exist and be recognised as humans that can think for themselves. i conclude by arguing that to understand this community correctly, we need to take the ontological difference seriously that we cannot possibly have only one way of existing. the community of esihlengeni thus provides us with the economic theory that is centred on life in its totality – that takes both the physical and metaphysical into consideration to ensure the continuity of life. as such, the community of esihlengeni should be regarded as a gift to be appreciated.