https://www.miningweekly.com

Botswana set to draw water from Lesotho Highlands Project

25th November 2015

By: African News Agency

  

Font size: - +

Arid Botswana has finalised a deal with South Africa and Lesotho to tap some of the water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

Botswana’s Minister of Mineral, Energy and Water Resources Minister, Onkodame Kitso Mokaila confirmed this at a conference in Gaborone on the diamond industry.

The aim of the conference, organised by the diamond giant De Beers, London’s Chatham House think tank and the Botswana government, is to discover how Botswana can diversify its economy beyond the diamond industry which is the mainstay of the economy today.

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 tapping water from the Zambezi River.

And another was the three-nation deal to tap into the Lesotho Highlands Water Project which is a joint venture between Lesotho and South Africa through which Lesotho sells excess water to South Africa.

Mokaila stressed that the agreement was a “done deal” and it was now just a matter of drawing up a plan and a design to implement the agreement. A pre-feasibility study was now being conducted.

He said that all three countries were part of the Orange River system “and so we all decided to work together”.

He said that Lesotho had a lot of water in its mountains. “You can put a dam anywhere in the country and you will get water.”

Tapping Lesotho’s water would “make a huge difference especially to the south of the country”, the minister said.

Asked how soon Botswana would tap the water, he said “as soon as possible” was the message which the three governments involved had told their officials who met last week to negotiate the deal.

The next steps were to come together to draw up a plan and design, and look at the impact on the communities along the route, and the environmental impact. “So that’s as fast as we can move, making sure all that is done.”

He emphasised that the decision among South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana had been finalised. “It’s a done deal.”

Keith Jefferis, MD of Econsult and former deputy governor of the Bank of Botswana, said that it seemed likely that Botswana would transfer the water from Gauteng rather than directly from Lesotho.

But however Botswana got the water, “by the time it gets here it will be damned expensive”. However, he said it was likely it would be cheaper than getting water from the Zambezi River, the other major project which the government had embarked on.

Jefferis, though, said South Africa should not fear that Botswana would deprive it of water. Lesotho had more than enough to supply Botswana’s small population.

Edited by African News Agency

Comments

Showroom

Rittal
Rittal

Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.173 0.21s - 106pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now