Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo, has commended the progress made in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel maintenance operations, which started last month.
Mahlobo and Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo led an inspection of the maintenance operation at the Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnel in Clarens, Free State, on Friday.
The joint maintenance operation by Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) and the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA) is currently underway, following the tunnel system closure on 1 October 2024.
The TCTA is undertaking the maintenance operation on Delivery Tunnel North within South Africa, and LHDA will focus on the transfer tunnels at the Muela hydro power station in Lesotho.
Speaking at the inspection, Mahlobo commended the TCTA for the quality of the work delivered since the tunnel shutdown on 1 October 2024.
Mahlobo emphasised the ability of the two nations to cooperate and share the resources, noting that there are rivers that are flowing in between the neighbouring countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and Botswana.
“This trans-boundary cooperation is one of the things that we need to promote because in other parts of the world, there’s conflict around the issue of sharing water,” Mahlobo said.
Mahlobo highlighted the other advantages, which benefit both South Africa and Lesotho.
“In Lesotho, they have a hydro power station to power the system. It’s clean energy… At the very same time, this side, we are able to supply [water] for domestic use and other economic uses, whether it is agriculture industries, powering a number of communities and provinces (sic).
“The water… touches more than 13 million beneficiaries because it touches the province of Free State, Northern Cape, North West, Gauteng, and it also touches Mpumalanga. That is the scale of it and it is massive,” Mahlobo said.
The Deputy Minister said the Lesotho Highlands Water Project was completed by the democratic government, as it was commissioned in 1998.
South Africa’s richness in engineering
Mahlobo said South Africa is rich with skilled people in engineering, science and technology.
“[The LHWP] is a very sophisticated and complex system, where you have to go through the mountains, and you can see very serious engineering just to put [up] infrastructure of this nature. You can see the technology that is used…
“There is a need for continuous maintenance when you have assets. Therefore, investing in an asset gives you a longer life span and this one is going to extend the life span for the additional 20 years,” Mahlobo said.
The Deputy Minister called for reduced water losses, reiterating that every drop of water counts.
Support for municipalities
Mahlobo reiterated government’s support for all the municipalities that are directly or indirectly affected by the LHWP system.
“We are satisfied that the system will be managed, [but we acknowledge] it will remain vulnerable because it is a life system. It must be monitored from time to time, [hence] the weekly meetings happening every Wednesday to oversee the work. We want to encourage the workers to continue to do a good job and we are very proud of the work they do.
“Our call for citizens to use water sparingly still remains. In as much as water will continue to be available, it must be used sparingly,” Mahlobo said.
The LHWP maintenance is expected to be completed on 31 March 2025. – SAnews.gov.za
