A bird’s eye view of Co-operatives in South Africa shows Co-operatives in the period before and after the democratic elections of 1994 when the rainbow nation was born. The first Co-operative is known to be Pietermaritzburg Consumer Co-operative, which was formed at the beginning of 1892.

Apartheid brought about separate development and the Co-operative movement was no exception. By the 1940s, white agricultural Co-operatives were substantially benefiting from their access to a monopolistic marketing of agricultural produce. The black agricultural Co-operatives were only promoted in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the apartheid economic grand-plan for the “homelands”.

Savings and Credit Co-operatives were promoted in the Western Cape by the Church to encourage thrift and mobilise savings in the communities. This led to the formation of the Savings and Credit and Co-operative League (SACCOL). SACCOL became a national organisation for credit unions.

In the post-apartheid period, a new law was enacted to bring together all types of Co-operatives under one roof, and there has been much encouragement of Co-operative development by the government.