Israeli technology turns on the tap for another SA village

On Sunday, 11 October, the 228th village in South Africa received running water due to Sivan Yaari and Innovation: Africa, a non-profit organisation that brings Israeli technology to rural African communities. 

The organisation has so far brought water to 1 487 villages across the continent. 

For generations, women in a northern KwaZulu-Natal village walked down a steep hill several times a day to collect water from an open, contaminated source. Now, a tap of clean water has opened up new possibilities for more than 3 000 people. 

On Sunday, Innovation: Africa opened a solar-powered water system in Okledeni, near Nongoma, funded by The Victor Daitz Foundation. 

Yaari, the organisation’s founder and chief executive, said the event brought together community members, royalty, and traditional and local government leaders to celebrate access to clean water. During the ceremony, one of the new taps was turned on, prompting great joy among the Okledeni community. 

The project involved finding water at a depth of 150m, with a flow rate of 2.1 litres a second. More than 3km of piping was installed to supply clean water to 11 taps around the village. 

“Before the opening of the tap, we went with the donors to see where women were collecting water [before],” Yaari told the SA Jewish Report. 

She described how women had been going up and down a steep hill for decades. They made the journey two to three times a day, sometimes walking for as long as an hour each way. The water was visibly dirty, she said, raising concerns about the risks associated with drinking and using it. 

Community members expressed relief at no longer having to depend on that source of water. Yaari said women spoke about the prospect of protecting their families from waterborne illness and having access to water for personal hygiene. 

They also spoke about what the new supply could mean for their economic prospects. “They want to open businesses now that they will have more time and they can use the water to open new businesses,” she said. 

Access to water can affect far more than a household’s ability to drink, cook, and wash. When families no longer need to spend hours collecting water, they can redirect that time towards education, paid work, and other activities. For women and girls, who often carry much of the responsibility for collecting water in rural communities, a nearby supply can also reduce the daily burden of these journeys. 

Innovation: Africa works to address these challenges by using solar energy to pump water in communities where reliable infrastructure is lacking. 

Founded 18 years ago, the organisation operates in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Cameroon. 

In South Africa, its projects have reached villages in several provinces, including Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape. The Okledeni installation uses solar panels to supply the energy needed to pump water, reducing reliance on conventional electricity infrastructure. 

However, installing the equipment is only one part of the process. Keeping it operational requires local knowledge, technical skills, and a system for funding maintenance and repairs. 

At Okledeni, 14 people from the village worked alongside the contractor for four months, learning to operate, repair, and maintain the solar-powered system. They received certificates of completion at the opening ceremony. Yaari said the training could improve their prospects of finding employment by giving them practical technical skills. 

The project also includes a structure intended to support the system over the longer term. A water committee elected by the community signed a memorandum of understanding confirming its ownership of the installation. 

The committee has opened a bank account, with each household contributing towards protecting and maintaining the system. This arrangement is intended to help the community take responsibility for the infrastructure and ensure funds are available when maintenance is needed. 

For Innovation: Africa, community participation is central to making projects sustainable. A system must continue working after the installation team leaves, or the benefits of the initial investment can be lost. 

The Victor Daitz Foundation funded the Okledeni installation. The foundation supports projects exclusively in KwaZulu-Natal and has funded four villages in the province. The donor involved has supported four villages across Africa, including projects in KwaZulu-Natal. 

Yaari described how the community responded to the fact that the technology came from Israel. “We mentioned that we’re from Jerusalem,” she said. “It was well received.” 

The participants even danced together to the song Jerusalema. For Yaari, the reception was significant because the project brought together Israeli technology and a rural South African community around a practical need. 

Innovation: Africa’s work in South Africa has expanded considerably since the organisation first began operating in the country. In a previous interview with the SA Jewish Report, Yaari described how she had initially doubted that South Africa needed its assistance because she believed the country was comparatively wealthy. 

Her perspective changed after visiting rural villages and seeing women walking long distances to collect dirty water despite the presence of electricity and other modern amenities in some communities. 

Yaari said the organisation intends to continue expanding its work in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. 

• Sivan Yaari was hosted on 13 October by the Union of Jewish Women at the Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre.