Seinoli in collaboration with the African Platform for Social Protection held a lobbying session to advocate for the ratification of AU protocol by the government . The meeting targeted relevant Ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development and the Parliament through the Social Cluster, CSOs dealing with Human Rights and social protection and justice and media organisations which work on issues of Social Protection.
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.)
Intentionally holding women back from accessing financial resources such as compensation for affected land is a form of Gender-Based Violence. Thirty-five-year-old woman (name withheld) from the village of Masakong which is currently being affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II says her father received money amounting to M200,000.00 as compensation for their fields, which have been affected by the projects. In an interview with Seinoli, she mentions that when this money was issued, her father did not inform her and her four siblings about the money. Instead, he used the money to build a single-room brick house and purchased furniture for the house.
Figure 2 The house which was built with the money issued for compensation of affected fields.
She continued to mention that she squabbles with her father whenever she requests him to give her money for her late sister’ daughter who is unable to go to school. She furthered to say her father willingly gives his lover this money who occasionally comes to their home.
Mamokoma (not real name) is a single parent to three children, one is disabled, whom because of her predicament, is forced to live with their father. She indicated that the severity of this has mostly been felt by her, her children and her late sister’s daughter as they are assisted by neighboring relatives, with food and other basic needs. When asked how the affected fields contributed towards their means of livelihood, she responded to say they never went hungry as the fields provided them with various foods such as five large bags of maize meal, sugar beans, sorghum, and also grew potatoes.
Figure 1 Victim with her disabled daughter and son photographed above.
In the attempt to get help, she claims to have involved some of the relatives and also reported this matter to the police but there hasn’t been any resolution. The family is yet to receive compensation for affected trees, which she hopes will be allocated accordingly amongst her and her siblings as they did not benefit at all from the money given to his father.
This case is a typical example of Gender-based violence resulting from poor allocation of compensation for affected land, which increases women’s dependency and vulnerability.
Katse Dam is the first Phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project which was constructed in 1991 and completed in 1998 on the Malibamats’o River, a tributary of the Orange Senqu River. The communities living around the dam area have experienced several adverse consequences including social disarticulation, dispossession of livelihoods, and cultural alienation to name but a few. One of the glaring issues concerning this project is how the communities no longer have access to water. This past week, the world celebrated international water day, yet the communities in Katse claim not to have access to clean running water. The communities also have to walk long distances to the limited water sources which have been availed to them after losing their natural water resources.
The communities’ natural springs and wells have dried up as a result of the project, which has resulted in perplexing life changes amongst the communities. For 16 years, the village of Mapeleng lacked access to clean drinking water. During the inundation of the Katse dam, the community’s natural springs dried up. The community literally drank from ponds containing unclean water and the entire village suffered from waterborne diseases. 20 years later, the communities that sacrificed to make way for the dam project, continue to suffer immensely.
There is an urgent need to flip the lens towards the needs of communities so as to close the justice gap and safeguard the rights and sustainable livelihoods of communities being affected by large development projects. Project implementors must ensure access to water and sanitation as a preventive measure and a prerequisite for an adequate standard of living.
Water is a critical dimension of sustainable development as articulated in SDG-6 ( Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) which states that by 2030 that there should be equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all, access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations and the Water Act 2008 justifies that water is one of the most important resources.
Mr Samuel Molomo expressed concerns over the issue of relocation of graves. He questioned this process from cultural view point. He also considers it very traumatising to families and entire community. When the process is carried-out, the project should be sensitive to traditional practises and customs of Basotho where reinterment ceremonies are concerned.
Today we are at Ha Maphonkoane. We have been discussing the communities’ rights to Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). They have a right to participate and to be consulted in all processes and decisions related to the Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer Scheme.
They have expressed a sense of shock and anxiety at the thought of losing their lands and livelihoods as a result of this project. They are concerned that no official communication has come from the project official. Only 2 villages thus far have reported having visits from L-BWT officials of the 21 villages consulted by Seinoli.
Out of 9 communities, 4 are facing involuntary resettlement. Members of these communities during interviews by Seinoli Legal Centre expressed their concerns regarding the project which is just at its initial stage.
Mr. Maqebo Tsietsi from Mapholaneng opines that the compensation that communities are receiving is not fair and adequate. He states that the 86 cent/square metre compensation rate has been arbitrarily decided and has no basis compared to the harvest he gets from his fields. Communities are also complaining about the 50-year compensation period, claiming that the Land Act 2010 provides the right to use the land for 99 years. Therefore, they find the 50-year compensation plan baseless hence they reject it.
Community members pointed out that as a result of the project, they no longer have access to natural resources which formed an essential part of their livelihoods. They further expressed their concerns over LHDA’s unreasonable delay in disbursing compensation funds. Despite the fact that compensations are already inadequate, delays in disbursements further aggravate the chilling effect on communities.
The LHDA order of 1986 states that the Authority has the primary duty to ensure that the standard of living of the affected communities does not deteriorate, but rather is maintained or improved. The Order, read together with the Land Act of 2010 provides for prompt compensation even before entry into the property. This means that communities being affected are entitled to fair and adequate compensation.
Today the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development is visiting Maloraneng which has been affected by the Lets’eng Diamond Mine to also hear the challenges facing the community regarding the mine.
The Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development has visited communities affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II, Polihali Dam, to hear the challenges facing affected communities.