UN delegation visits villagers affected by LHWP II.

Figure 1 United Nations Resident Coordinator, Amanda Khozi Mkwashi and her delegation included The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative Deepak Bhaskaran, Human rights officer from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Lineo Tsikoane in Masakong, Mokhotlong.

Mamphasa Monethi (Seinoli Legal Centre

POLIHALI, Lesotho – United Nations Resident Coordinator, Amanda Khozi Mkwashi, on Thursday led a delegation that visited communities who have been negatively affected by the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP II).

Her delegation, which included The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative Deepak Bhaskaran, Human rights officer from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Lineo Tsikoane, and UN Communications Officer, Reitumetse Russell, sought to hear the grievances of communities that are being displaced by the Polihali dam project.

The delegation visited villagers in Tsekong and Masakong and heard that communities had been adversely affected by activities like blasting in the dam reservoir area.

Issues raised

Some of the villagers complained that their safety, livelihoods and health were now at risk because of blasting activities.

In the meeting, community representative Thabo Motabola from Tsekong said blasting activities were undertaken indiscriminately both during the day and at night. Whenever the blasting was done at night, it gave animal rustlers an opportunity to steal livestock undetected.

Figure 2 Communities raising their issues regarding the Polihali dam project.

He said that fumes from the blasts are also toxic and are resulting in villagers suffering different kinds of respiratory problems. Others, including children, are now experiencing hearing and sight problems. All this because the nearby communities were not being given protective gear such as masks. Neither were they provided with shelter for safety during blasting activities.

 Another villager, Makanono Leleka, added that debris from a blast came dangerously close to humans and property when it landed in her yard last Thursday posing serious risk of injury and damage.

Figure 3 Community member from Tsekong Ms. Makanono Leleka.

Due to the blasting, the community well, their only water source, was now contaminated by unknown chemicals. The well was also within the dam area and was now inaccessible to the villagers as it had been fenced in and there was no other means to get water as they did not have taps or other water resources.

The water situation is worsening by the day as streams in the area have also been contaminated. So bad was the situation that animals were dying after drinking from the nearby streams.

The villagers said some of their houses were cracking because of tremors from the blasts. They accused the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) of not conducting pre and post assessment studies for community property and assets. The villagers alleged that the LHDA was turning down their claims on property damaged by the blasts.

Communities demand compensation for lost grazing pastures

A quarry site established in the Tsekong village first in 2018 and extended in 2023, has now taken away huge swaths of land which were previously the community’s grazing land. The villagers said they had received neither compensation, alternative pastures nor fodder for their animals. This had resulted in a serious threat to the community’s food security considering the prevailing drought conditions in Southern Africa.

Villagers cry for transparency on compensation

The villagers said they were never consulted regarding the formula for individual household compensation for displacement and loss of property. They said the compensation was extraordinarily little, and they were unaware of the basis on which the compensation was arrived at. The LHDA pays M20.24 per square meter for affected fields. However, when they sought clarity, they were never answered, they alleged. They also said they were unaware when they should expect compensation.

Masakong community grievances

Villagers in Masakong registered similar concerns. Community representative, Lebohang Lengoasa, said it was now difficult to raise children in the area as they were grappling with incessant noise and air pollution. These posed serious health risks for minors. He said they had requested to be relocated before the beginning of the implementation process, but the call fell on deaf ears. 

Broken promises

The community said it was promised that villagers would be prioritized when it came to jobs in the project. However, the LHDA has allegedly reneged on the offer with over 50 men currently unemployed in the area while women seldom got jobs. The LHDA also promised to seek services like transport and catering from the community, but these contracts were never given to the villagers.

“With our compensation money, we bought taxis, but the LHDA is now saying that it requires buses when it had promised that it would hire our taxis,” one villager who has been paid compensation said. He alleged that there were also a lot of underhand dealings in the hiring process.

Impacts on the community’s livelihoods

The communities have always depended on their livestock, agriculture and on important resources such as firewood, traditional herbs, and medicinal plants which are no longer accessible due to the project’s fencing.

Intimidation

The villagers also complained that whenever they attempted to voice their concern, they were threatened with violence by the police. Apart from writing letters to the LHDA, the communities said they had no other way to seek recourse and whenever they wrote letters, the LHDA often ignored them. To jolt the LHDA and its contractors’ action, the community in some instances staged peaceful protests. “The LHDA does not even have a complaints mechanism in place for us to lodge complaints we have with different contractors.”  

“Even when we try to engage with the LHDA by inviting them to the village to discuss our issues, they do not attend. The LHDA does not even have a complaints mechanism in place for us to lodge complaints we have with different contractors,” another villager said.

Some hope for recourse.

After listening to their grievances, the UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Amanda Khozi promised the communities that the UN would conduct further investigations, and a report would be released later. The report will be shared with the UN headquaters in Geneva and with Prime Minister Sam Matekane.

The UN delegation then engaged the LHDA and presented the community’s concerns. The LHDA requested a meeting specifically to address the issues. In response, Ms. Mkwashi said in the proposed meeting, one of the issues LHDA should be prepared to address was coming up with a social development plan to ensure that the villagers were part of the planning and implementation of that plan. The plan was also supposed to be in accordance with international standards and should have feedback and accountability mechanisms.

Figure 4 Community Grievences were presented  before the LHDA.

While addressing the community, Bhaskaran stated that the delegation was extremely glad to have heard from communities directly about their concerns.

“The key role of the delegation is to ensure that your rights are not being violated. We have picked that there are environmental issues and impacts on your livelihoods and generally your means of livelihood. We hear that there are promises made and you are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled. We will ensure that a report will be produced and shared. Continue to inform us about the challenges you face and tell your communities until these issues are addressed,” Bhaskaran told the Masankong villagers.

Figure 5 The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative Deepak Bhaskaran in Masakong  which is being displaced by the Polihali dam project to hear the grievances of communities.)

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Water from Lesotho

For export, not for villages

By Leonie March, Freelance Journalist at AfrikaRiff, Wetreporter and RiffReporter in collaboration with Seinoli Legal Centre.

The Kingdom of Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world. In order to generate more revenue for the state, the government exports water to the neighboring country of South Africa. This has negative impacts on Lesotho’s ecosystems and local village communities.

Cool spring water flows out of two metal pipes protruding from a concrete block. A herder waters his sheep here, while two girls fill buckets and containers with water. The water comes directly from the mountains that surround the village of Ha Lejone in the highlands of Lesotho. Transporting the water is arduous: the girls carry it home in wheelbarrows and balanced on their heads.

Access to clean drinking water is limited in many areas of Lesotho, as is the case here. However, the situation contrasts sharply with the water masses in the valley. Next to it, the huge Katse Dam shimmers in the sun – the centerpiece of the “Lesotho Highlands Water Project”. It consists of dams, tunnel systems, pumping stations, and power plants. The water is not intended for Lesotho, but for export to South Africa.

Mammpole Molapo says that the supply of their village has not improved, but rather worsened due to the project: “Before this project, we had an abundance of water here. But many of the pipelines through which the water used to be directed to our village were damaged due to the road and construction work for the dam. It was promised that they would be repaired, but that has not happened in all these years. And so, water is scarce in our village.”

Molapo is the traditional local chief in Ha Lejone, a female chief. Her home village is located at around 2300 meters above sea level on the northern shore of the Katse Dam. The villages have not benefited from the water export.

The villages have not benefited from the water export.

Here, small shops line the streets and men load sheep onto a pickup truck. Some houses are traditionally built with natural stone, covered with grass, and round in shape. Modern rectangular houses with corrugated iron roofs can also be seen in the landscape.

They are sitting in the village in front of a hut on simple chairs, with the mountainous landscape of Lesotho in the background. Leonie March is talking to the village chief of Ha Lejone, Mammpole Molapo. In the background is NGO worker Mothusi Seqhee.

In the past, Ha Lejone was only accessible via rough unpaved mountain passes. Since the construction of a paved road in the 1990s as part of the dam project, it has become easier to drive down to the lowlands. The government of Lesotho promotes the road construction as a benefit, as well as electricity from hydropower and water fees, which alone generated around 58 million euros for the state treasury of the small kingdom last year. Part of this revenue should flow into the development of villages like Ha Lejone.

However, according to Chief Molapo, her life has not improved overall. The subsistence farming life of her childhood no longer exists. “Before, we had a decent life. We were subsistence farmers and grew enough to feed our families. But many fields and pastures have been flooded for the project. Also, natural resources we used to utilize are now underwater. For example, medicinal plants. They now only exist in a botanical garden on the other side of the dam. That’s a long, expensive journey for us, and we have to pay for the medicinal plants there.”

Molapo looks at the rocky, steep mountainsides. Herders drive their livestock through the landscape on foot and horseback: cows, sheep, and Angora goats. There are no fenced pasture areas. The land is traditionally used by all. Since the valley was flooded, only the slopes remain.

At many points, they appear almost terraced, with erosion increasing. This is also fatal for water supply: wetlands that play an important role in the alpine ecosystem, storing and filtering water, would increasingly be under pressure, says ecologist Peter Chatanga. “Some of the roads lead through such wetlands. This changes their hydrology, they become more muddy, for example, and can no longer serve their function as water reservoirs. The dams also change the ecosystem and reduce grazing land, which in turn leads to overgrazing. Since these areas in the highlands have become more accessible, the population has also increased. This further exacerbates the human-made pressure on the wetlands.”

Bare mountain slopes can be seen from above, and in the valley, there is a reservoir. The Katse Dam near Ha Lejone filled the valley with water.

In addition, climate change is exacerbating the situation. Faced with a drought, Lesotho had to reduce its water exports to South Africa for the first time in ten years in 2020. And this trend could continue. More droughts, more floods, a less predictable rainy season.

The effects of climate change in Lesotho will manifest in more extremes, says Henrik Hartmann of the German Society for International Cooperation, GIZ, in Lesotho. However, a study also shows that the continuously declining water levels of the dams for the past 20 years cannot be solely attributed to climate change.

“There is strong evidence that it is due to the destruction of ecosystems. And this study we conducted also shows the consequences this would have. Assuming that water transfer to Johannesburg could be interrupted by 50 percent, it would have enormous impacts in the metropolis itself. We can expect a 10 to 11 percent economic contraction, one million jobs lost, and Lesotho itself would have to make enormous savings in the areas of health and education due to the loss of revenue. This is therefore a relevant problem, not only ecologically but also economically and socially.”

50 to 60 percent of people live in absolute poverty. The revenue from water exports constitutes a significant portion of Lesotho’s budget. The country is one of the poorest in the world. If revenue decreases, so will the resources for poverty reduction. However, poverty reduction is central to the protection of ecosystems, explains Henrik Hartmann from GIZ.

“The core cause of ecosystem damage in Lesotho is poverty. It is due to people having no other sources of income than subsistence farming. We see this in some areas where we work: according to the official definition of absolute poverty – 1.90 US dollars – 50 to 60 percent of people are below that level. This means that we are dealing with people who are chronically affected by food insecurity. So, we cannot approach this with a protection strategy that says we only focus on protecting ecosystems.”

Therefore, it is not just about creating new protected areas but also about using natural resources more sustainably. This can include simple solutions such as growing new crops that require less water than the dominant maize or building drinking troughs at the edge of wetlands so that herders can water their livestock without entering sensitive ecosystems. Environmental protection, poverty reduction, and economic development must go hand in hand.

Villages like Ha Lejone on the edge of the major dams also hoped for a better life and a way out of poverty. The responsible government agency, the “Lesotho Highlands Development Authority,” had promised tourism projects and the establishment of fisheries, among other things. However, the balance sheet is sobering.

There is a legal battle between the villagers and the government.

In a small room, the village committee of Ha Lejone has gathered to discuss their next steps. Men and women wrapped in blankets sit on wooden benches and listen to Mothusi Seqhee from the capital city of Maseru, who works for the Seinoli Legal Centre, a non-governmental organization of lawyers representing the interests of rural populations, and reports on the long struggle of the villagers.

“The treaty was signed in October 1986 by Lesotho and South Africa, and construction on the dam began about three years later. The people here and in the other affected areas were promised a better life and compensation, such as for the loss of grazing land. At first, they were given animal feed, whether or not they had livestock. Then there were financial compensations, but only until 2004. Then, for years, no money was paid, even though annual payments were agreed upon. So we went to court and won in 2015.”

But the fight is not over yet. The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority suspended payments due to cases of mismanagement in the communities. Now, the villagers are required to form committees, document their expenses, have them approved by auditors, and even submit business plans.

“The intention may have been good, but the implementation is a problem. The relevant authority has not supported the committees as intended, such as in developing business plans. The people here have done their best. They have proposed different projects, including a trout farm for the local market. But all their ideas have been rejected, without providing specific reasons. In other words, the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority is not interested in the development of these communities. At the same time, they withhold money that does not belong to them.”

NGO worker Mothusi Seqhee refers to both the missing compensation payments and the corruption scandals of recent years: funds were embezzled, bribes were paid, and even prison sentences were imposed. Corruption is also considered a reason for the delays in the completion of the second phase of the bilateral project between Lesotho and South Africa, with the South African side being suspected. Instead of already flowing in 2019, more water will now only flow to South Africa in 2026. For Lesotho, this means that revenues will not increase. And for South Africa, water will become scarce in the economic region of Gauteng around Johannesburg, where twelve million people live.

Furthermore, construction work for another dam is being planned.

Clean drinking water is already scarce in Masakong. The small village is located on a bend in the river, where another dam is to be built as part of the second phase of a project. Heavy construction machines drive over the new tar road, dust blows over the former grazing land and fallow fields of small farmers. A fence has been built around their village, and the path to the river is also blocked. Residents like Lebohang Lengoasa have been waiting for years to be relocated.

“We lead a miserable life. We are literally trapped here and have lost our livelihood: our fields and our livestock. My animals died in the last drought, others have eaten plastic waste that was not here before. But we are still waiting for the promised compensation, jobs, and relocation of our village.”

Lengoasa walks a few steps towards a tap that protrudes from the ground between his fenced village and the construction site. Previously, the villagers fetched their drinking water from a spring, but it was contaminated by wastewater from the construction workers’ settlement. The project management therefore erected this communal water tap.

“They pump the water from the river into those plastic tanks over there. They say they filter it before it comes out of the tap here. But we doubt that: when it rains, the water is brown, it smells and tastes strange. Some of us boil it, but not everyone. Children regularly get diarrhea. But when I speak out about these abuses, they try to intimidate me.”

As for what should happen next, Lengoasa shrugs helplessly. Some of his neighbors have already moved to the city, while others cling to the hope of somehow building a new livelihood here in the highlands.

Negotiating the water project anew?

The government of Lesotho is trampling on the rights of its own citizens, says NGO worker Mothusi Seqhee. The original contract for the cross-border water project was signed in the 1980s, when apartheid still existed in South Africa and Lesotho was ruled by a military regime. He expected more from today’s democratically elected governments.

“They have the same mentality and treat the affected citizens the same way as before. Our politicians do not think about how the project could actually benefit our country. We should be allowed to use the water from the dams for irrigation so that we can produce enough food for the nation. The government should commission experts to develop practical and sustainable projects for a new livelihood and a replacement for the land that the people have lost here.”

And, of course, every citizen has a right to clean drinking water. But the authorities are stubborn, says Mothusi Seqhee, who will soon be going back to court with his NGO’s lawyers.

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