Minister Pemmy Majodina launches tunnel drilling for Polihali water project, 20 Apr

Minister Majodina and Lesotho’s Minister Moleko to unveil the Tunnel Drilling Machine to activate excavation of the 38 km Polihali Water Transfer Tunnel

The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina and Deputy Minister David Mahlobo together with the Lesotho counterpart, Minister of Natural Resources, Mohlomi Moleko will unveil the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), a state-of-art equipment used to drill the 38.5 km long tunnel connecting Polihali and Katse Dams, at the Polihali Construction Site, in Mokhotlong, Lesotho on Monday 20 April 2026.

The launch of the second TBM marks a significant milestone in Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project- a powerful symbol of progress as the project transition from preparation to full scale tunneling along one of the region's most ambitious water transfer routes. The first TBM was launched in Katse Dam in February 2025 and has started the tunnel drilling at the Katse site.

Measuring roughly 423 meters in length and featuring a 5.38-meter cutterhead and engineered to work continuously even in the toughest underground conditions, the two TBMs will excavate the belly of the Maluti mountains that will connect Polihali and Katse reservoirs, advancing simultaneously from each end of the alignment to create a tunnel.  During this process, the machine will also install precast concrete lining segments, seamlessly transforming raw rock into a completed structure in one uninterrupted process.

Once completed, the Polihali Tunnel will facilitate the transfer of significantly larger volumes of water, thereby enhancing regional water security and bolstering hydropower generation in Lesotho.
 

The Polihali Tunnel is one of the major components of LHWP2 and currently under construction. Other components include an approximately 165m high concrete faced rockfill dam at Polihali downstream of the confluence of the Khubelu and Senqu-Orange Rivers and the 800 meters long Senqu Bridge, as well as other assorted infrastructure such as feeder roads, resettlement and environmental, social and public health programmes etc.

The LHWP aims to harness the Orange–Senqu River system through the construction of major dams and transfer tunnels in order to augment supply to South Africa’s water-stressed Integrated Vaal River System, thereby supporting the economic hub of Gauteng, while concurrently generating hydropower for Lesotho. Through the new Polihali reservoir, which will have the capacity of 2, 322 million cubic metres (mᵌ) of water storage, this phase will progressively increase the current water supply rate by adding 490 million mᵌ/a to the existing 780 million cubic metres per annum (mᵌ/a) to 1 270 billion mᵌ/a transferred to South Africa.  

For more information, contact:
Wisane Mavasa
Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation 
Cell: 060 561 8935
E-mail: mavasaw@dws.gov.za