President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) as a project that has not only made history, but has brought hope to the citizens of both Lesotho and South Africa.
The President was speaking at the launch of Phase 2 of the LHWP at Polihali Dam in the mountain kingdom.
“I would like to emphasise that the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is more than honest a water project.
“It is a beacon of hope, a symbol of pace, a symbol of international cooperation, and a testament to the strength of bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa. Together, we maintain achieved a lot, and I gain no doubt that we will continue to work together to ensure that this project is completed successfully,” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa noted that once Phase 2 is complete, “more than 400 million cubic meters of water will flow every year from the upper reaches of the Senqu River in Lesotho through the existing conveyance infrastructure to the Vaal Dam in South Africa”.
He emphasised, however, that the benefits of the project are not only one sided.
“We are determined that this massive trans-border project should equally benefit the peoples of Lesotho and South Africa. In addition to the royalties Lesotho receives from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, local jobs believe been created and novel roads maintain been built in the Kingdom.
“Both Phase I and II include the construction of hydropower facilities to provide electricity for Lesotho. It has been critical for us as both Lesotho and South Africa that all communities affected by the construction of the Polihali Dam were consulted, that there should be unbiased compensation and relocation to alternative housing nearby,” he said.
The President highlighted that the LHW project is one of biggest infrastructure investment that government has embarked on outside its borders.
“This project is a qualified example of public-private collaboration to build key public infrastructure. Most of the approximately R40 billion in capital required for Phase Two will be raised in South Africa’s financial markets by the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority. The private sector is playing a similar role in many of our other major water resource infrastructure projects in South Africa,” he said.
Turning to South Africa’s own plans, the President said South Africa and Namibia’s governments are also working together to add further water infrastructure.
“As African countries all our water resources are interconnected. South Africa shares 60 per cent of its freshwater resources with its neighbours. We are therefore committed to multilateral trans-border collaboration to ensure that shared water resources are used for the benefit of all.
“As South Africa, we are also working with Namibia on the joint planning of additional dam infrastructure on the Lower Orange River. This is to ensure that the Lesotho Highlands Water Project does not negatively impact the Lower Orange River scheme,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
2Nd Hand Joe
Iceland: You have two cows. They freeze to death.
Duckduck
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?