1. Programme Background

ForAfrika is a leading African humanitarian and development organisation operating in eight countries, with a vision of an Africa that thrives. Under a three-year grant from the donor, ForAfrika South Africa will assume full operational responsibility for existing solar-powered rural water systems across Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.

The programme's central premise is that sustainable rural water service delivery can be elevated into a Solar Water Enterprise Hub — a community-owned platform combining a managed rural water utility, a formalised Water Management Committee (WMC), and a nucleus for local economic activity including kiosk-based last-mile distribution, productive use of water, and community savings structures. ForAfrika's role is to maintain, operate, and transfer these systems to community ownership.

2. Purpose of the Position

The Community Mobilisation Officer is the programme's frontline community-facing role within their assigned cluster. The position drives the social, governance, and economic mobilisation work that makes the technical infrastructure sustainable: establishing and strengthening Water Management Committees, activating community savings groups (VSLA-equivalent structures) under ForAfrika's social enterprise division, mobilising Hub kiosk operators, facilitating community engagement and behaviour change, and building the community ownership pathway.

The KwaZulu-Natal position is designated the highest-intensity governance support deployment in the South Africa portfolio, given the lowest committee coverage in the portfolio; the Mpumalanga position manages the largest site concentration; and the Limpopo position supports the portfolio's most advanced cluster toward accelerated community self-management.

3. Key Responsibilities

3.1 Community engagement and transition

• Participate in the pre-operational community engagement phase : meet Water Management Committees at all sites in the assigned cluster, conduct baseline governance assessments, support stakeholder engagement, and distribute field contact information — ensuring communities experience zero disruption in their relationship with the water service.
• Conduct the WMC audit at every site in the assigned cluster within Months 1–6, documenting committee composition, functionality, registration status, bank account status, meeting and record-keeping practices, and tariff/contribution history.
• Support the identification of sites requiring committee formation, reactivation, or capacity building, feeding directly into the site-tier triage confirmed by Month 3.
• Contribute community and socio-economic data to the market systems analysis and Hub community assessments across the cluster's catchments.

3.2 Water Management Committee formalisation and governance strengthening

• Establish, reactivate, and train community maintenance committees/WMCs across the assigned cluster, targeting 100% WMC functionality against the programme's governance standards.
• Support the formalisation of community structures as Water Service Intermediaries (WSIs) under Section 19 of the Water Services Act, including documentation, community resolutions, and liaison with Water Services Authorities.
• Facilitate bank account activation at gap sites and support transparent financial record-keeping, community feedback mechanisms, and accountable governance practices.
• Deliver training in WASH governance, system management, and community financial management, targeting at least two trained participants per site with at least 50% female participation.
• Support tariff structure consultations with communities, the piloting of community tariff collection and community understanding of the Free Basic Water policy and contributions above the FBW threshold.

3.3 Savings groups, VSLA establishment and financial inclusion

• Establish and strengthen community savings groups under ForAfrika's social enterprise division, prioritising the bank-account-gap sites in the assigned cluster.
• Facilitate the integration of WMCs, Hub kiosks, and savings groups into a coordinated local economic system.
• Support communities to link savings structures to water O&M financing, including liquidity buffers for routine costs, emergency repairs, and Capital Sinking Fund contributions.

3.4 Hub Economic Activation and Livelihoods

• Mobilise and support the selection, onboarding, and ongoing accompaniment of Hub kiosk operators for the kiosk pilot and subsequent scale waves.
• Facilitate community sensitisation and customer registration for the ForAfrika ordering platform, metering and Hub-based services.
• Support productive-use-of-water activation — smallholder irrigation, livestock watering, and small-scale enterprise — in coordination with Food Security and Livelihoods programming.
• Lead community behaviour-change programming, including hygiene promotion and the social dimensions of the transition from free grant-funded service to community-financed sustainability.

3.5 Monitoring, reporting and accountability

• Collect field-level data for the MEAL dashboard, including WMC functionality, training participation, savings group activity, community satisfaction, and Hub activity indicators, in coordination with the DMEAL Officer and DMEAL Assistant.
• Prepare monthly cluster-level community mobilisation reports feeding into consolidated quarterly donor reports.
• Operate community feedback and complaints mechanisms consistent with ForAfrika's accountability-to-affected-populations commitments and escalate safeguarding concerns in line with policy.

3.6 Stakeholder and government liaison

• Maintain day-to-day working relationships with traditional authorities, ward councillors, community leaders, and local structures across the cluster.
• Support engagement with the relevant Water Services Authority on community-level aspects of cost-sharing Service Level Agreements and the transfer of Free Basic Water subsidies to community accounts.
• Coordinate community-facing activities with WASH Field Engineers, the Civil Engineer, and technical partners to ensure maintenance visits are community-coordinated and communicated.

4. Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Bachelor's degree or national diploma in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Community Development, Public Health, or a related field.
• Minimum four (4) years of experience in community mobilisation, community development, or social facilitation, preferably within WASH, rural development, or livelihoods programming.
• Demonstrated experience establishing or strengthening community governance structures (water committees, savings groups, cooperatives, or similar).
• Fluency in the dominant language of the assigned cluster: IsiZulu (KwaZulu-Natal), Sepedi (Limpopo), or Siswati (Mpumalanga), in addition to English.
• Strong facilitation, training, and conflict-resolution skills with rural communities.
• Valid driver's licence and willingness to travel extensively (up to 70%) to remote rural sites within the assigned cluster, including overnight stays.

Desirable

• Experience with Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) or equivalent community savings methodologies.
• Experience in community-based enterprise, last-mile distribution, or market systems development.
• Familiarity with the South African water sector institutional framework (Water Services Act, Water Services Authorities, Free Basic Water policy).
• Experience with digital data collection tools (KoBo, ODK, or similar) and mobile money platforms.
• Prior experience on donor-funded programmes with structured MEAL and reporting requirements.

5. Competencies

• Deep respect for community agency, consis