6-month shutdown of water supply for some parts of South Africa

Bongani Bingwa interviews Livhuwani Mabuda, Acting Deputy Director-General of Water Resource Infrastructure Management at the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Listen below.

Parts of South Africa will soon be without water for six months.

From 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025, the primary water supply to Gauteng, the nation's economic hub, and the fertile agricultural lands of the Free State will be interrupted, due to maintenance work on the 37-kilometre Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnel, a vital resource for millions of South Africans.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Commission, a collaborative governing body between South Africa and Lesotho, will oversee the temporary shutdown.

Mabuda says maintenance is critical to preserve the integrity of the tunnel systems which will, upon completion of the work, function smoothly for the next 20 to 30 years.

Residential areas dependent on these tunnels for their water supply, such as Mafube, Nketoana, and Dihlabeng in the Free State and Gauteng provinces, may face water restrictions.

Mabuda says they have contingency plans to ensure continuous water supply to affected users during the shutdown period.

He warns that agricultural users who directly draw water from the river must limit their consumption.

"It's a scheduled, planned maintenance of the tunnel."

- Livhuwani Mabuda, Water Resource Infrastructure Management – Department of Water and Sanitation

"This is a tunnel we have to maintain."

- Livhuwani Mabuda, Water Resource Infrastructure Management – Department of Water and Sanitation

"The municipalities are being engaged on various plans to make sure that they can continue to have water."

- Livhuwani Mabuda, Water Resource Infrastructure Management – Department of Water and Sanitation

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.