1. How much money (royalties) does Lesotho get and what happens to that money?

2. Is electricity now going to be cheaper now that LHDA/Lesotho is generating its own?

3. When are the people adjacent to LHWP areas going to be connected (electricity)?

4. My house is now much smaller than the original property I had before I was resettled. What happened?

5. How are those people that have been affected by the project assisted with restoration of their livelihoods?

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How much money (royalties) does Lesotho get and what happens to that money?

Lesotho gets fixed and variable royalties from the transfer of water to RSA. On average the royalties come to M15million/month. Lesotho has to date (up to July, 2002), received about M937million in revenues from royalties. The money is deposited into Government of Lesotho account. Part of the money is redirected to general development of the country through the Lesotho Fund for Community Development (LFCD).

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Is electricity now going to be cheaper now that LHDA/Lesotho is generating its own?

Not necessarily. However, it is cheaper to have electricity connection since the Lesotho Electricity Corporation (LEC) as a Lesotho utility has built the infrastructure for the supply. The electricity consumption is going to be affordable/competitive in the medium term, since the tariff charged is ESKOM-based tariff in order to avoid potential high rates, which would exceed ESKOM rates. Lesotho intents matching ESKOM prices by an ongoing process of privatising LEC and commercialising ‘Muela Hydropower Plant. Improved efficiencies brought about by these changes would ensure lower operating costs for both organisations and enable them to operate in a sustainable manner while maintaining comparable end-user prices.

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When are the people adjacent to LHWP areas going to be connected (electricity)?

Wherever there is LHWP electricity line, LHDA has erected substations with a spare feeder for the local communities to facilitate distribution by the LEC service utility. HDA is in the process of transferring its electricity supply assets used in the construction and camp sites to LEC. LEC on the other hand has commenced supplying its customers inside and adjacent to the LHWP area.

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My house is now much smaller than the original property I had before I was resettled. What happened?

The floor size of all properties is taken by LHDA at the acquisition stage. The owner of properties is then free to choose whether they aggregate the floor size into one large house with so many rooms or they retain their original number of huts. LHDA builds at a specified minimum floor size, which in most cases comes to a little more than what the property owner has. This means therefore that for those properties/houses where the floor size was lower – especially if they had just one structure they benefit from the extra provision.

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How are those people that have been affected by the project assisted with restoration of their livelihoods?

Training is provided for people who want to venture into new ways of earning their lives. The project also provides opportunities for participation by the people into different activities – such as intensive agriculture programmes for household food security, income generation programmes as well as access to health facilities.

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Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
Copyright © 2002  [LHWP]. All rights reserved.
Revised: May 04, 2006 .