President Cyril Ramaphosa together with King Letsie lll and Lesotho Prime Minster Sam Matekane officially launched phase two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, comprising the Polihali Dam and transfer tunnel.
There will also be the Senqu Bridge that will stand above the Senqu River.
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is the biggest infrastructure investment outside South African borders in which the country has participated in.
President Ramaphosa says this project is a good example of public-private collaboration to build key public infrastructure.
He says most of the approximately R40 billion in capital, required for phase two, will be raised in South Africa’s financial markets.
The water South Africa receives from Lesotho augments the Integrated Vaal River System, which supplies water to Gauteng and its surrounding areas.
Ramaphosa says once phase two is completed, more than 400 million cubic meters of water will flow every year from the upper reaches of the Senqu River in Lesotho through the existing conveyance infrastructure to the Vaal Dam in South Africa.
Both phase one and two include the construction of hydropower facilities to provide electricity for Lesotho.
