Construction World January 2017

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2017 2
COMMENT
EDITOR & DEPUTY PUBLISHER
Wilhelm du Plessis
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Erna Oosthuizen
LAYOUT & DESIGN
Lesley Testa
CIRCULATION
Karen Smith
TOTAL CIRCULATION:
(Third Quarter ’16)
4 824
PUBLISHER
Karen Grant
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Tandym Cape
@ConstWorldSA
This project will increase water supply from Lesotho to
Gauteng, but there have been major delays with starting with
the second phase. There is light at the end of the tunnel though.
The Lesotho Highland Development Aughority (LHDA) recently
announced that the engineering design contracts for the two
main water transfer components of the Lesotho Highlands
Water Project Phase II will be awarded by mid-2017 and that
construction will begin 18 months thereafter.
This R23-billion project is being financed by the Trans-
Caledon Tunnel Authority. It was expected to have been
operational by 2020, but it will now (hopefully) be operational by
2025. The delay has been attributed to the ratification of a 2011
Phase II agreement as well as delays in finalising key policies.
However, the LHDA now maintains that the political, legal,
policy, environmental and funding frameworks are in place to
ensure that the project is implemented. It also indicates that
various projects to support the implementation (roads, power
lines, housing, relocation etc.) have already been awarded.
The release of water from the Sterkfontein
Dam to replenish the level of the Vaal Dam –
the main source of water of Gauteng, South
Africa’s economic heartland – highlighted
two things: that South Africa is an extremely
water scarce country and that the endless
delays of Phase II for Lesotho Highlands
Water Project indicate that South Africa
lacks critical water-planning skills.
What Phase II will entail
The water transfer component will include the construction
of the Polihali dam that will be situated downstream from the
confluence of the Khubelu and Senqu rivers as well as a 38 km
tunnel that will connect the Polihali dam to the Katse reservoir.
The Polihali dam is southeast of Phase I – the Katse and
Mohale dams and its related transfer tunnels that enable it to
convey water from Lesotho into the Vaal system.
This phase will also have a hydropower component and
will generate 1 200 MW. This component will be ready for
commissioning when the first water flows to South Africa
by 2025.
The LHDA is confident that when the respective contracts for
the dam and tunnel are awarded, the process will
naturally accelerate.
It is always good to start a new year off with good news.
Unfortunately the good in this will be dependent on whether
timelines are adhered to.
Wilhelm du Plessis
Editor
The Katse Dam in Lesotho when it overflowed a few years ago.
This dam is currently (December 2016) about 40% full. It has a
full storage capacity of 1 519 million cubic metres.