SA Jewish Board, King David, and University of Johannesburg help tiny rural village achieve educational excellence

Seven hours from Joburg, in the middle of a remote rural village in the Vhembe District of northern Limpopo, King David Pre-Primary School Linksfield, the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) are making a difference by donating boxes of goodies to an early child development (ECD) centre.

In this village, baobabs outnumber houses and the main form of transport is a donkey cart. Yet, in what feels like the most rural of settings, a small ECD centre is made up of two small containers joined by green turf. One houses the administration staff, the other holds 25 children with smiles on their faces, full of energy and excitement at the arrival of visitors.

The previous day, the small team from the UJ faculty of engineering and the built environment put the last touches to the ECD centre. In 2014, a small team of professors and students, spearheaded by Suné von Solms; Johan Meyer; and Charis Harley, adopted the villages of Matatani, Gwakwani, and Mbodi. Over the years, they have installed boreholes, solar energy, containers for administrative work, and connectivity.

In anticipation of my visit, the SAJBD put out a call on social media for donations of ECD-appropriate materials. King David Pre-Primary’s donations included educational toys and perceptual games, posters, puzzles, building blocks, and chalkboards.

“The impact of toys such as these on these children is far-reaching. This is where our resources should be focused,” Harley said. “The expression on the teacher’s face when she saw what had been provided was absolute wonder. She screamed in delight, and couldn’t stop smiling.”

The call from King David came from Cindy Silverman, who grew up in the area, and whose father, Jack Klaff – the lone remaining Jewish farmer in Musina – had assisted the SAJBD on previous occasions with this project.

This was my third visit to the area. In 2023, the SAJBD partnered with UJ to provide a learning centre at Hanyani Secondary School. The SAJBD provided a container with computers and two years of free Wi-Fi. On my initial visit, Klaff, Van Solms, and I met Hanyani School Principal Thifhelimbilu Ndou and the governing body to discuss the centre and decide on its name. A few months later, Klaff and I were back for the launch of the fully operational Tshumisano Learning Centre. It had a phenomenal impact. From once being among the worst-performing schools in the country, in the 2024 matric results, the school obtained a 92% pass rate. UJ donated scientific calculators, providing the resources matric pupils needed to improve their maths and science marks as well.

The results have had a knock-on effect. On learning of the excellent results of the school, and the difficult conditions that Hanyani pupils face, including some of them having to walk up to 14km to school – one way – many of whom are from child-headed homes and face daily hunger, Absa Bank partnered with Qhubeka Charity and donated 129 bicycles to Grade 11 pupils. Not only will this help them to get to school on time, it will make their journeys easier. My visit celebrated the distribution of bicycles made possible by Absa, UJ, and Qhubeka. That, and the fact that the SAJBD has renewed its contract to provide Wi-Fi to the school for another two years.

The Jewish community has now contributed to an ECD and a high school. As I looked at the happy faces of the little ones with their new toys, and the bigger ones who can continue their studies, I’m proud that our Jewish community, small and urbanised, is connecting in such a meaningful way with the small and rural communities in northern Limpopo. These are small things that many of us barely notice in our daily lives, yet in this context, they are truly life-changing.