South Africa: Deputy Ministers to Inspect Lesotho Highlands Water Project

Water and Sanitation Deputy Ministers, David Mahlobo and Sello Seitlholo, together with Deputy Minister of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Seiso Mohai, will today lead an inspection of the maintenance operation of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel in Clarens, Free State.

A joint maintenance operation by Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) and the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA) is currently underway, following a tunnel system closure on 1 October 2024.

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.

“Following a de-watering process of the tunnel, technical inspections have been conducted and the repair work inside the tunnel resumed and will take place until 28 February 2025. The tunnel will remain closed for six months and will be operational again next year in March,” the Department of Water and Sanitation said ahead of Friday’s tour.

READ | Lesotho Highlands Water Project Tunnel undergoes maintenance

During the inspection of the maintenance tunnel, the Deputy Ministers will take members of the media to different sites of the tunnel, including Little Caledon Tunnel and Ash River Outfall.

The Deputy Ministers will be accompanied by the Executive Mayors of theThabo Mofutsanyana and Fezile Dabi District Municipalities, and Setsoto, Mafube, Mantsopa and Nketoane Local Municipalities.

Klipdrift Package Plant

Meanwhile, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to ensure access to safe drinking water and uninterrupted water supply to the people of Hammanskraal, in Gauteng, DWS Minister, Pemmy Majodina, will on Saturday unveil phase 1 of the Klipdrift Package Plant.

READ | Cabinet updated on SA’s water challenges

The launch follows the Ministerial visit that took place in August, where the Ministry of Water and Sanitation received an update report on the work done on the Klipdrift potable Water Treatment Works Project.

READ | Thumbs up for Hammanskraal and Vereeniging water projects

Ministerial Spokesperson, Cornelius Monama highlighted that in order to improve water provision to residents of Hammanskraal, the department last year allocated R758 million for the upgrading of the 40 megalitres (ml/d) per day Klipdrift Water Treatment Plant to provide additional water into the existing bulk water infrastructure.

Monama said the additional 50 ml/d will bring the total capacity to 92 ml/d after completion.

He acknowledged that the Hammanskraal community has experienced continuous water supply challenges which necessitated intervention by the DWS.

Monama explained that the potable water treatment plant is being implemented in four phases, and the current completed phase will bring in 12.5 megalitres of potable water into the bulk supply scheme.

“The first package plant will supply water to parts of Mandela Village, Marokolong, Ramotse, Kekana Gardens, Kudube Unit 9 and Babelegi Industrial and Bridgeview informal settlement. The next phases of the project will continue into 2025,” Monama said.

The Minister, accompanied by Deputy Ministers, Mahlobo and Seitlholo, will unveil the first package plant at Klipdrift Package Plant in Mandela Village, Hammankraal, north of Pretoria.