From Lesotho to Emfuleni, securing SA’s precious water sources

It’s a mammoth legacy project critical to keeping the taps flowing in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the rest of Gauteng well into the future. However, the tax costs associated with ensuring that phase two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project goes as planned have ballooned exponentially. Given the Water and Sanitation Ministry’s history of immense wasteful spending in recent years, it’s not all that surprising. As News24’s Climate Editor Lameez Omarjee reports, yet another investigation into our often controversial national water affairs is now in the offing due to this project’s persistent delays: “This project is behind nine years. From what I gathered, water will be delivered by 2028 … construction should be closed by 2030”. With more dams and tunnels, phase two of this legacy project is expected to provide about 490 million cubic litres more water to South Africa every year. The Lead’s trending topic stays with SA’s water woes. Plans are afoot for utility Rand Water to help mop up Emfuleni’s sewage pollution crisis of the past decade by setting up the new Vaal Water Corporation. Finally, the national minibus taxi body, Santaco, will soon consider implementing a cashless payment system. Mail your comments and voice notes to thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.