Botswana has made its way into the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a water distribution initiative initially made up of Lesotho and South Africa. Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources (MEWR) Kitso Mokaila told the diamond industry conference in Gaborone this week that Botswana has finalised a deal with South Africa and Lesotho that enables it to draw water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
With the cost of the project still unknown pending feasibility studies; Mokaila said the water pipe from South Africa would enter the country through the South East region. “We have been able to negotiate to become part of the deal,” he said, adding that a pre-feasibility study is being conducted. On why they chose to draw water from Lesotho instead of the Zambezi River, the minister said it is much cheaper, and Lesotho has a lot of water from its mountains. “You can put a dam anywhere in the country and you will get water,” the minister added. Mokaila also pointed out that plans to draw water from the Zambezi River requires investment running into billions of dollars which would have compelled government to make difficult choices given the many competing priorities for limited and dwindling financial resources.
In 2014, South Africa and Lesotho launched the R15.5-billion second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which will generate hydro-electric power for Lesotho while increasing the volume of water transferred to South Africa from the 10-billion to about 15-billion cubic metres a year. The first phase of the project – comprising a series of dams, hydropower stations and tunnels between South Africa and mountainous, landlocked Lesotho – was funded by the World Bank and completed in 2004. Lesotho is expected to benefit through royalties and electricity that will be generated through the dams to be built.
The shortage of water casts doubt on the ability of the state to discharge its obligation to supply basic public services.
As part of providing a favourable investment climate, Mokaila stated that government has committed to make significant investments in water and power infrastructure as the two are important economic drivers. “Botswana is a semi-arid country and therefore provision of portable water has always been and will always be a challenge and top priority,” he said, adding that over 95 percent of Batswana are within 200 metres from a portable water source.
Mokaila said that one of the constraints on diversification and beneficiation of the economy with new industry was the country’s water shortage. He described various projects which were being explored or undertaken to address the problem, including drilling more boreholes at Masama wellfields. Masama boreholes are expected to pump an additional 20 million litres of water on a daily basis to supplement the 60 million coming through the North South Carrier (NSC) scheme to alleviate water shortage.
Mokaila said the implementation of the Water Master Plan which has been revised to 2035 is continuing with major focus on developing, and where possible, fast tracking water transfer infrastructure to bring water to where it is needed. “This is proving to be resource intensive,” he warned.
In Econsult’s third quarter Economic Review report compiled by economic thinkers Keith Jefferis, Brandon Basele and Sethunya Sejoe the unreliable supply of water and electricity appears as an immediate problem that disrupts business operations. The analysts also concluded the shortage of water casts doubt on the ability of the state to discharge its obligation to supply basic public services, and its ability to plan and manage large infrastructure projects.