By Luzamo Sandlana
On 25 May, more than 30 journalists from national, regional and local media houses witnessed a powerful display of South Africa’s water infrastructure in action. Water flowed from the mountains of Lesotho through a 38km tunnel into South Africa. This marked the official reopening of the Lesotho Highlands Water Tunnel, which had been shut since October 2024 for maintenance.
The day began with a media briefing at the Protea Hotel in Clarens. Programme Director wanda mkutshulwa welcomed delegates and outlined the day’s programme. This included a visit to the Ash River Outfall. The session gave journalists a detailed overview of the project and the reasons for the maintenance shutdown. CEO Percy Sechemane provided context on the temporary closure. He then opened the floor for questions. After the briefing, the group travelled to the Outfall. There they were joined by the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, and her two deputies, David Mahlobo and Sello Seithlolo. Other dignitaries included Deputy Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Seiso Mohai, Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae and Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Teboho Mokoena. Also present were
RSA Chief Delegate to the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission Teboho Nkhahle and the executive mayors of Dihlabeng, Nketoana, Mafube and Mantsopa local municipalities.
The Department of Water and Sanitation quoted Minister Majodina in a statement, saying: “We are satisfied that the maintenance work has been completed despite the delays experienced. The tunnel was finally refilled with water from
Lesotho and water has now reached the country. We are here to witness the flow of water which will supply more than 400 million cubic meters of water annually to the Vaal Dam. The water will serve Free State and Gauteng provinces. We must also highlight that during the tunnel closure, the municipalities that rely mainly on water supply from the tunnel were not severely affected as there were other contingency plans that were made to ensure that the communities continue to have water.”
Despite a one-month delay in completing the maintenance, the reopening drew wide media coverage. Television, radio, print and social media all covered the event. Reporting ranged from moderate to positive. This reinforced the organisation’s role in delivering vital water infrastructure on a national scale.
