At least 36 of the main contracts on LHWP II have been signed, although the big construction contracts are still awaited since OUTA’s first report was published in 2017 and our letter of demand was issued to the Department of Water and Sanitation.
After disastrous corruption in LHWP II (the then CEO of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, which runs the Lesotho end of the project, spent nine years in jail), the LHWP II has anti-corruption protocols written into it.
Nomvula Mokonyane is now out of the picture. Mokonyane was Minister of Water and Sanitation from May 2009 until April 2014 and has been strongly linked to state capture in South Africa. She reportedly tried to force the appointment on LHWP II of an engineering firm without acknowledgment of the required skills, experience and established procedures, but didn’t succeed.
Mokonyane and her successor, Gugile Nkwinti, who was minister until April 2019, were South Africa’s political representatives on a scheme that has seen years of delays.
We have seen good progress since 2017 but there is a lot of work to be done, especially because the LHWP II was supposed to start supplying Gauteng with water this year. Instead we are seeing water constraints in our metros. We believe that those in the new administration have played a significant role in encouraging progress in this project.
South Africa pays Lesotho billions of rand in water royalties. Lesotho also uses the scheme to generate electricity from the 72MW Muela hydropower station downstream from Katse Dam, the main reservoir in the LHWP.
It’s supposed to benefit both parties.
But the current rule for the operation of Katse Dam is to continuously release water via the transfer tunnel between Muela hydropower station and the Ash River outfall. This was agreed to allow Lesotho to generate the maximum amount of electricity, but this is not optimal from a water-management perspective because it compromises water security.
This means that our water is not being stored for security purposes but continuously released which poses a severe threat to our water security.
South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana have apparently agreed to build a 720km pipeline from Katse Dam across South Africa to supply water to Botswana. This is the Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer Project.
To date there has been no public participation about this scheme or a formal international agreement for the project . We understand that feasibility studies are underway. We’d like to know more and would like the public to have their say about this.
OUTA is of the opinion that such a project should not be on the cards as South Africa already lacks sufficient water supplies with the increased demands in population growth, urbanisation, economic demands and food security.
The Project Management Unit for LHWP II was appointed in 2013 but still hasn’t been given the appropriate decision-making powers.
There’s no independent water regulator in South Africa to watch over tariffs that the public is ultimately charged for this water.
The delays – at least some blamed on Mokonyane’s meddling – may have cost an extra R1 billion.
