South Africa: The Minister of Water and Sanitation – Pemmy Majodina led a delegation to Lesotho for an oversight visit to assess the progress on Phase-2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).
Reportedly, Minister Majodina was accompanied by the Deputy Minister David Mahobo and Deputy Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation – Seiso Mohai. the delegates are scheduled to meet the Minister of Natural Resources – Mohlomi Moleko of Lesotho.
Majodina was joined on the two-day visit that began on Saturday Dec 14, 2025 by the representatives of the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission, on behalf of the two countries. It also included Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) which is implementing an agency for the project.
The oversight visit included inspections of key infrastructure sites. It also included the Polihali Dam construction site, the Katse Dam Outfall Tunnel system and the Senqu Bridge among the other infrastructure associated with the project.
The Minister also led bilateral consultation meetings to discuss project progress and ensure the continued success of the landmark initiative. The LHWP remained central, by strengthening bilateral relations between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho, while advancing development and economic prosperity in both the countries.
The project involves the construction of a network of tunnels and dams to transfer water from the Orange–Senqu River in the Lesotho highlands to South Africa, and to use the water-delivery system to generate hydro-electric power in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Furthermore, Phase-2 of the water transfer component includes the construction of an approximately 165-metre-high concrete-faced rockfill dam at Polihali, located downstream of the confluence of the Khubelu and Senqu-Orange Rivers, as well as an approximately 38 kms concrete-lined gravity tunnel linking the Polihali and Katse reservoirs.
Upon completion, Phase-2 will increase the annual water transfer from Lesotho to South Africa by an additional 490 million cubic metres, raising total transfers from the current 780 million cubic metres per year to make it 1260 million cubic metres per year. The additional water will feed into South Africa’s Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS).
The department of Water and Sanitation stated that the IVRS is the biggest system in the country, which supplies water to the economic hub of Gauteng and comprises of 14 dams with catchments in four provinces, namely Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, and North West, with the Polihali dam becoming the 15th dam in the system.
Earlier this month, the Ministers responsible for water from the four Orange–Senqu River Basin states have reiterated their shared commitment to safeguarde the river basin as a strategic resource underpinning regional water security, climate resilience, economic development, and ecological sustainability. The visit concludes on Sunday, December 15, 2025.