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Making Sense of a Scam: Mmm Mutual Fund Participants In MAKING SENSE OF A SCAM: MMM MUTUAL FUND PARTICIPANTS IN KAGISO NEGOTIATE DISSENTING MAINSTREAM NEWS COVERAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts of Rhodes University by BELLA MAKHULU BOQO November 2019 SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR LARRY STRELITZ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3819-0597 ii For my parents Masello and Skumbuzo Boqo & all God’s children who don’t think they can: Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we could hope or think, according to the power at work within us, To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this thesis has been a labour of faith. It was completed with the guidance of my generous supervisor Larry Strelitz. There were many times when I doubted if I have what it takes, but you stood sure. I appreciate the support you’ve shown in this process. To Abafambi, who in their own ways challenged my thinking about the world, people and politics. Happy Mulolani, Mandisa Mpulo, Mbali Buthelezi, Noko Pela, Tamuka Mtengwa. To all my friends (I cannot name you all) thank you for holding me up. Further gratitude goes to the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies. Special thanks to Lynette Steenveld for treating me with love and Ryan Hancocks, with the assistance of the South African Reserve Bank, for funding this degree. I’d also like to acknowledge my family at River of Life Church, under the leadership of Pastor Innocent and Milcah Matepo. It has been a gift to grow under your watch. And my coach Phetsile Dlamini, for your being there when it mattered most. Those to whom this thesis is dedicated: my parents Skumbuzo and Masello, siblings Bongi and Khethiwe and nephew Katlego, you are so deeply loved! Your sleepless nights, prayers, patience, money and general willingness to do everything in your power to help can never be repaid. Ous Thalita for reminding me that I am always in community, the late Ous Mapula Medupe for being a rainbow in my cloud and connecting me with all the participants, my cousins Mpho Motswe and Nozipho Buthelezi for getting me started. Modimo a lo atise. To my person and all-round cheerleader Tatenda Chatikobo, I could not have done this without you. Maita basa. And finally, to all the participants, thank you for saying ‘yes’! iv ABSTRACT Pyramid, Ponzi and various fraudulent investment schemes are common feature in post-apartheid South Africa. The record levels of participation have generated much discussion in public discourse. Newspapers often abound with reports of participants who’ve lost large sums of money – in many instances their life savings. While on social media, thousands debate the merits and threats of new ventures as they emerge, in some instances using these platforms as the newest recruitment platforms. The sheer size and frequency of their appearance especially in post- revolutionary societies – those which experienced dramatic structural transformation following the end of the Cold War and growth of a neoliberal market economy – has drawn substantive scholarly attention. Much like media reports, however, this research often points to the morality of such practices, asking questions like what factors lead people to make the apparently irrational decision to participate in a scam? This study, however, contributes to a different body of emerging literature concerned with the larger structural contexts in which such forms of economic practice and organisation exist, and the meanings participants make of their involvement. Looking at the recently high profile of case of Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM), it employs a qualitative research methodology rooted in cultural studies to examine how participants based in the Johannesburg township of Kagiso used social media, specifically WhatsApp, to make sense of and contest the dissenting mainstream news coverage about MMM. Ultimately, it is a question of how their participation in particularly illegal pyramid or Ponzi type schemes and opposition to traditional news reports are rooted in their lived experiences, and what opportunities social media offer as alternate platforms for meaning-making, deliberation and public contestation. v LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS BEE Black Economic Empowerment BNG Breaking New Ground (development strategy) FNB First National Bank ICT Information Communication Technology ILO International Labour Organisation MMM Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox Nasasa National Stokvel Association of South Africa NCC National Consumer Commission NP National Party RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................... 8 Social Context............................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 20 Theoretical Frameworks .......................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 41 Research Methods and Methodology ...................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................... 52 Presentation and Interpretation of Findings ............................................................................. 52 CHAPTER SIX............................................................................................................................ 77 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 82 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................. 95 Appendix I : Videos Inserts ................................................................................................. 95 Appendix II: Informed consent form ................................................................................... 96 Appendix III: Guide For Focus Group and Individual Interviews .................................... 101 Appendix IV: News reports ............................................................................................... 103 vii CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1. Introduction This study investigates how members of a recruitment-based Ponzi scheme in South Africa popularly known as MMM (Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox), negotiated and contested dissenting mainstream media coverage about the scheme. Taking a sample of participants based in the West-Johannesburg township of Kagiso, the study is particularly concerned with the oppositional meanings they made of mainstream media messages and how these relate with their everyday lived circumstances. It also considers their use of WhatsApp in constructing and circulating these meanings, as well as facilitating contestation offline. To address this the study employs Fraser’s theory on subaltern1 counterpublics. Developed in critique of Habermas’ public sphere concept, it argues for the existence of multiple publics in stratified and multicultural societies where members of subordinate groups use alternative media to “invent and circulate counter discourses” against the dominant public sphere (1990:67). The study therefore examines participants’ economic and media practices in the context of their subalternity. It is concerned specifically with the role and effectiveness of social media for counter publicity in post-apartheid South Africa. In this chapter, I provide a general and personal background to the study. I further locate the study within the cultural studies tradition, highlighting the theoretical frameworks used to address the research question. The chapter also outlines the objectives of the study, its significance and concludes with an outline of the thesis structure. 1.1. Contextual background General context First introduced to South Africa in January 2015, MMM is one of 18 global subsidiaries of Russia’s biggest Ponzi scheme in history (Egorova, 2017). It was founded by Sergei Mavrodi in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse promising monthly returns of up to 100% to share- buying investors (Egorova, 2017). MMM gained popularity through an aggressive marketing 1 Here, subaltern is used in the Gramscian sense and refers to subordinated groups who struggle to transform oppressive state and economic
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