By During her official re-opening of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Tunnel (LHWPT) at the Ash River Outfall in Clarens, Free State, Minister Pemmy Majodina highlighted that the country is faced with water supply challenges, mainly due to leakages at municipal level.
The LHWP tunnel system was closed last year in October for a joint maintenance operation on both Lesotho side and South Africa for six months undertaken by Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) on a Delivery Tunnel North within South Africa, and the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA) on the Transfer and Delivery South Tunnels in Lesotho.
The tunnel was scheduled to reopen in March this year, but due to maintenance work delays experienced in the Delivery Tunnel South on the side of Lesotho, the closure was extended to allow the maintenance work to be completed. In South Africa, the maintenance work was on schedule and was finalised on 19 March 2025.
The Minister for the Department of Water and Sanitation Ms Pemmy Majodina affirmed that the South African team finished on schedule their maintenance work during the official re-opening of the LHWPT on Sunday, 25 May 2025.
She said due to inclement weather patterns, the Lesotho team could not work and requested an additional three weeks, which would land on mid-April, but bad weather was persistent and they had to postpone once more to May.
“We were patient with them because we received high levels of rain in the country, from January to April, so we did not have any crisis; we had to allow them to do things in a correct manner. We said to them, today is the 25th of May, it is Africa Day, as part of celebrating Africa Day, we must celebrate by receiving our water, our water must be here in this tunnel today; that is why we invited you to come and witness that water is here,” said Majodina.
Majodina said her department is not responsible for the water lost due to leakages, which is a scourge in the country, she said the challenge does not lay with bulk water supply but with municipalities.
“The challenges of water supply, is not with bulk water supply, I say that today, tomorrow, I said it yesterday, I am going to say that in the next three to five years. The water that you see running down the streets, it is the water that comes from the bulk water supply, but the challenge is reticulation and provision thereof, which is not our mandate as the Department of Water and Sanitation.
We keep on working with all our municipalities to close the leaks, because what makes water to run down the streets is because of the leaks that are there across the country,” said the Minister.
Minister Majodina attributed the leaks in municipalities to poorly maintained infrastructure and said it is more beneficial to shutdown water supply for a period of time and do maintenance, and inform communities well in advance, more water and loss of revenue can be saved if the infrastructure is well maintained.
The Free State Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae said the re-opening of the LHWPT on Africa Day falls well into the direction the province has taken, to take services to where people are, instead of bussing them into stadium, rather, the province will pride itself in service delivery.
Letsoha-Mathae said the best way to win the confidence of residents as a leader, is to deliver on promises made, and 25 May marked the delivery of the promise made to the people. She commended her Mayors and political heads for communicating with communities and explaining why the tunnel had to be shut for maintenance.
“Here we are, the water is running, just listen to the sound! thank you very much Minister, and let me also thank the team work that Monitoring and Evaluation, since this seventh administration, I have observed this teamwork from two DMs (Deputy Minister), DM Seitlholo, DM Mahlobo supporting you and Minister, I say let’s continue like that, because when we work together, we are going to achieve what we have achieved today,” said Free State Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae.
The Premier appealed to Minister Majodina to assist in getting pipelines to both Mantsopa and Setsoto Local Municipalities for water supply, as it does not make sense as both the municipalities are close to Lesotho but there is a shortage of water, as well as in part of Mafube Local Municipality.
