Lesotho-South Africa water project: a battle for “white gold”

In Lesotho, this water is known as “white gold” and plays a vital role in the country’s economy.

This engineering marvel is out of place in the country’s highlands, set in a rural area surrounded by shepherds wearing traditional Basotho blankets and living in mud huts.

The design of the Katse Dam is impressive. At 185 meters (600 feet) high, it is the second largest arc dam in Africa.

The plant was completed in 1996 as part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the result of an agreement signed a decade earlier between the governments of Lesotho and apartheid South Africa.

The country may be completely surrounded by its much larger neighbours, but it has something that parts of South Africa lack – a steady supply of water.

Due to its unique geographical location – Lesotho is the only country in the world where all of its elevation is above 1,000 metres – the country receives relatively high rainfall.

This is where Katse comes in.

Water flows from the dam into a series of tunnels before flowing into South Africa’s Vaal River Basin. This is Africa’s largest water diversion project.

Lesotho receives $200m (£154m) a year in water fees from South Africa, the government says, more than double what the country received after a renegotiated deal earlier this year.

Yet despite its abundant water resources, Lesotho remains economically impoverished. Nowhere is this more evident than in the village of Haramokotsi.

Although only 1 km from the dam, the 200 residents here still rely on a small natural spring in a small cave on the hillside for water.

At 10am on the day the BBC reporter visited, he saw a queue of women carrying empty paint buckets to carry the water home.

Some had been here since 3 a.m. In the queue we met Manteboheleng Mosiyoa, 50, who had arrived five hours earlier.

“The water quality here is terrible,” she said angrily.

“Sometimes when it rains, the dead dog gets washed into the spring. We have to fish it out because we need the water, even if it’s polluted.”

She added that drinking the water had health consequences and showed us an itchy rash on her wrist that medical staff said was caused by drinking unclean water.

“We get sick all the time, even the children. They get upset and pain in their stomachs after drinking the water.

“Sometimes when you come to the water you see little bugs but we still drink the water because we can’t survive without it.”

As we speak, the spring has dried up, meaning Ms. Mosyoa can only scoop the remaining water from a stagnant pool filled with garbage.

Village officials said that despite a series of promises from politicians as early as 2020 that running water would be installed, they had heard nothing.

Village chief Hlojeng Khethisa showed me notes from a notebook of meetings with the previous government.

“I want to say to the government that they should come and see how we live. We can’t build such a beautiful dam around our village and still live in poverty.”

It’s not a story you hear on tours of the dam organised by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, which is in charge of the project.

Our guide was eager to tell visitors about the fact that half of Lesotho’s electricity comes from hydropower, and about the roads built with the proceeds from the dam.

Katse was the first dam, and the second became operational in 2003. The third dam is due to start operating in 2028, with a total of five dams planned.

Despite the rapid development, Natural Resources Minister Molomi Moleko admitted the project has not always been in the interests of surrounding communities.

“As Basotho, we must now refocus. Our priority going forward will be supplying water to the Basotho people and secondly water diversion.

“We are now looking at providing water to the locals by 2030. That’s what we are looking at,” he said, adding that he would “bet his life” that the project would be completed by then.

The demand for Lesotho’s natural resources will only grow.

Most of Lesotho’s water is diverted to Gauteng province, South Africa’s economic heartland and home to its largest city, Johannesburg.

It is the largest city in the world not built on a water source, and the Golden City is becoming increasingly thirsty.

Cities are running out of water in their taps because of crumbling infrastructure, population growth and reservoirs drying up due to climate change.

“Lesotho’s water resources are very important because it basically drives a portion of South Africa’s GDP,” said Professor Anya du Plessis, an expert on water management at the University of South Africa.

“However, the demand for water is unsustainable. Consumers use a lot of water, more than 200 litres per day, but 46 per cent of the water that passes through the water supply system does not reach consumers due to neglected infrastructure. This is a man-made problem at present.”

Recently, the two sides also signed an agreement to transfer water from Lesotho to Botswana, more than 700 kilometers away.

None of these economic benefits will bring much comfort to the residents of Haramokotesi.

Although the Katse Dam is visible from her window, Ms Mosiyoa said it has not brought any benefits to her life.

“This dam has done us no good. We have no idea how much money Lesotho is going to get. Nothing has brought us anything. We are really struggling.”