Minister Mchunu to visit Lesotho Highlands Water Project with a view of fast-tracking phase 2 implementation
Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, will embark on an official working visit to Maseru, in the Kingdom of Lesotho (KoL) on 09 December 2022, to meet with his counterpart, Minister of Natural Resources, Mr Mohlomi Moleko, on matters relating to the implementation of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Phase 2.
The Ministerial engagement is intended to deliberate on the implementation of the phase 2 project and matters of mutual benefit between the two countries. This will be preceded by the site visits to Polihali Dam construction and other related sites of interest within the Project area.
The LHWP entails harnessing the waters of the Orange –Senqu River in the Lesotho highlands through the construction of a series of dams and tunnels to deliver specified quantities of water to South Africa and to utilise the water delivery system to hydro-electric power in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
The water transfer component of Phase 2 comprises an approximately 165m high Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam at Polihali downstream of the confluence of the Khubelu and Senqu (Orange) Rivers and an approximately 38km long concrete-lined gravity tunnel connecting the Polihali reservoir to the Katse reservoir.
Phase 1 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project consisted mainly of the construction of Mohale Dam, which is a large rockfill dam, a 32-kilometre transfer tunnel between Mohale and Katse Dams, construction of the Matsoku Diversion Weir, a 5.7-kilometre tunnel from the Matsoku Diversion Weir to the Katse Dam. The system is interconnected in such a way that water may be transferred in either direction for storage in Mohale or ultimate transfer to South Africa through the Katse reservoir.
The completion of Phase 2 of LHWP will augment the transfer of water from Kingdom of Lesotho to the Republic of South Africa from the current 780 million m3/year to 1260 million m3/year through the Integrated Vaal River System, the biggest System in the country, which is comprised of 14 dams with catchments in four provinces, namely Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, and North West.
Source: Government of South Africa