Water For Justice

Lesotho Highlands Water Project

In Phase 1A the Katse Dam with its 185 metre high concrete wall was erected. About 27 000 people in the area were affected by the construction. It was officially inaugurated in 1998. In March 2004 Mohale Dam (Phase 1B of the project) was inaugurated by King Letsie III and the South African President Thabo Mbeki. In this phase, 325 households have been also forced out to move in order to give a way for the Dam.

Transformation Resource Center (TRC) has been actively involved in the LHWP activities since the inception of the project. TRC involvement has been particularly playing a role of Monitoring, Advocacy and Community Empowerment on the social and environmental issues of the LHWP.

There are two field workers stationed in Mohale and Ratau areas respectively to follow up on the issues of Resettlement, Compensation and Development. So far, TRC has empowered the affected people to fight for their rights from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA), an implementing organ of the Project. On the same wave-length, to some extent, TRC has succeded in changing negative attitudes of the LHDA personnel towards the affected people .

Currently the Government of Lesotho is engaging in two new large scale water developments: the Lesotho Lowlands Water Scheme (LLWS) and Phase II of the Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

The LLWS' centre piece will be a new dam at Metolong. The scheme is designed to supply the capital Maseru and the water thirsty textile industry with water. Finance is sought from the US Millenium Challenge Account. TRC is already involved in the planning process. Our aim is to make sure that the mistakes made at the LHWP will not be repeated.

For Phase II of the LHWP, South Africa and Lesotho have in September 2005 signed an agreement for a M53 Million (app. $US 900,000) feasibility study. >>>read more

Despite these new plans, problems with phases Ia and be are continuing. Compensation is often delayed. In September 2005, TRC together with its partner organization Survivors of Lesotho Dams (SOLD) organized a protest march in Maseru. >>>read more

One of the successes of this protest march was the final agreement to resettle the Lakabane family. The family had been denied resettlement and it took TRC more than four years of lobbying, advocacy and diplomacy to put the case of the family in the minds of the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission authorities. This huge success was possible through relentless efforts of TRC's field workers, who left no stone unturned in the search of an agreement that could eventually lead to the resettlement of the family. >>>read more