Yetfu Sonkhe Savings and Credit Co-operatives is a legal entity registered under the Swaziland Co-operatives Act of 1964 as amended. It is licensed and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and an affiliate of Eswatini Association of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (ESASCCO).
The society was formed in 1986. The concept of cooperatives was sowed at Mhlume by the late Mr. Tom “Silodlela” Motsa who had first worked at Usuthu Pulp (Bhunya). Mr. Motsa together with four other pioneers formed the interim committee that was responsible for forming the bylaws, recruiting members and getting the society registered. Towards the end of 1986, two members had registered. The growth wasn’t as good because this was a foreign concept.
On the 7th December 1988, the society was registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives under the name, “Mhlume Workers Savings and Credit Cooperative”. The society was officially launched on the 22nd February 1992 by the then Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr. Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku. It was during the launch that the society was well received by the community of Mhlume and was recognised as an official organization and more members started to join.
The Mhlume Sugar Company started to recognise the existence of the society and through negotiations with society’s leadership, deductions were done through the company’s payroll. This source deduction by the company stimulated more company employees to join the society.
To open the society to people outside the Mhlume community, the name was changed from Mhlume Workers Savings and Credit Cooperative to Yetfu Sonkhe Savings and Credit Cooperative. This was in 1999 and the bylaws were amended accordingly.