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Yes, in at least one documented case—but the evidence does not show that the entire Lesotho Highlands Water Project is persistently contaminating rivers. On 15 May 2025, South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation said Kopano Ke Matla (KKM), a contractor on the Polihali transfer tunnel, had repeatedly failed wastewater-treatment requirements and had been warned about “polluting water courses with raw effluent.” The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) suspended the affected works. That was a targeted contractor suspension, not a project-wide shutdown, and publicly available sources do not establish basin-wide pollution or a measured increase in downstream pollutant concentrations.
What happened at the Polihali tunnel site?
The clearest public record is a South African Department of Water and Sanitation statement dated 15 May 2025. It followed a meeting on 13 May between the ministry, South Africa’s delegation to the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority.
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The statement says KKM, which was working on the Polihali transfer tunnel, had “persistent failures to meet treatment standards across multiple sites.” LHDA, acting as the implementing authority, had already issued warnings and formal non-conformance reports before suspending the contractor for failing to meet contractual environmental obligations for wastewater management.
The statement specifically refers to warnings about “polluting water courses with raw effluent.” That wording documents a pollution incident and identifies untreated or inadequately treated wastewater as the immediate pathway. It does not provide a downstream concentration, a measured plume, a list of affected rivers or a quantified volume of effluent.
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About 1,300 workers were sent home when the affected works were suspended. The contractor was required to submit a remedial plan and measurable compliance roadmap by 26 May 2025. Interim containment and treatment measures were to remain in place while the corrective work was assessed.
The public statement does not report a fine. It documents a suspension and compliance requirements; the available account should not be expanded into a claim that a financial penalty was imposed.
What is being built in Phase II?
Phase II is a network of major civil works rather than a single dam. The principal components and the figures published by the responsible authorities are:
| Component | Published description | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Polihali dam | Concrete-faced rockfill dam, approximately 165 metres high | South Africa Department of Water and Sanitation, 2025 |
| Polihali transfer tunnel | Gravity tunnel to Katse, approximately 38 kilometres long | South Africa Department of Water and Sanitation, 2025 |
| Polihali Western Access Road | 54.3 kilometres | Lesotho Highlands Development Authority Phase II page, accessed 2026 |
| Power and telecommunications | Associated 132 kV power and telecommunications infrastructure covering 35.4 kilometres | Lesotho Highlands Development Authority Phase II page, accessed 2026 |
Construction also includes bridges, quarries, borrow pits, camps, utilities, spoil areas and wastewater infrastructure. Each activity can create different environmental pressures, so a problem at one contractor’s treatment facilities cannot automatically be treated as evidence that every work area is polluting.
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Does the incident prove that all LHWP rivers are polluted?
No. The documented event is site- and contractor-specific. The same 15 May statement says work continued in unaffected zones, confirming that the suspension was not a shutdown of the whole project.
No publicly identified source provides a basin-wide before-and-after dataset covering turbidity, nutrients, pathogens, metals or other pollutants for rivers around Phase II. Without those measurements, it is not possible to claim that construction has caused persistent contamination throughout the project area, or that the Senqu specifically has been contaminated by the Polihali works.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →| Question | What the public record supports |
|---|---|
| Was raw effluent pollution documented? | Yes. The South African government statement records warnings about polluting watercourses with raw effluent. |
| Was the responsible contractor suspended? | Yes. LHDA suspended KKM’s affected works after repeated wastewater-treatment non-compliance. |
| Was the entire LHWP shut down? | No. Unaffected work zones continued. |
| Is there a quantified, basin-wide downstream pollution result? | Not established in the publicly described material. |
| Was a fine reported? | Not in the cited 15 May 2025 statement. |
What other construction activities could affect water?
A World Bank Phase 1B environmental assessment identifies potential construction pathways that require controls. That assessment is historical and describes risks and mitigation design; it does not prove that each pathway occurred during Phase II.
- Human waste and camp wastewater can reach streams if collection, treatment or disposal fails.
- Blasting can mobilise sediment and alter drainage around excavations.
- Concrete batch plants can produce alkaline wash water and cement-contaminated runoff.
- Machinery-maintenance centres can release oil, fuel or other hydrocarbons.
- Fuel storage and handling can cause spills that move through soil or stormwater.
- Toxic materials require secure storage, spill response and controlled disposal.
- Soil erosion from roads, spoil areas, quarries and borrow pits can increase sediment loads.
These are recognised risk pathways, not a finding that all of them polluted a river at Polihali.
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What environmental controls and monitoring are required?
LHDA says Phase II environmental baseline work established pre-project reference conditions for water quality, river flow and geomorphology. Those baselines are intended to make later changes detectable rather than assuming that any observed change is construction-related.
The project framework includes environmental and social impact assessments, environmental-management plans, wastewater-treatment requirements and controls for quarries, borrow pits, camps and spoil areas. It also includes longer-term catchment and biodiversity action plans.
LHDA’s instream-flow programme provides for long-term monitoring and allows release strategies to be modified if monitoring shows effects more adverse than predicted. That is a management mechanism, not evidence that monitoring has already demonstrated a particular level of contamination.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the wider official record add?
The Government of Lesotho maintains a page dated 1 March 2023 titled “Pollution of Rivers Critical to Lesotho Highlands Water Project.” The accessible page does not expose substantive measurements or a defined incident, so it is useful as evidence of official concern but not as proof of a measured pollution event.
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The African Development Bank’s environmental and social impact assessment record confirms that specialist environmental studies form part of the project framework. The World Bank Phase 1B assessment remains relevant for understanding expected hazards and mitigation requirements, but its historical status means it should not be presented as current Phase II water-quality data.
How should the pollution question be answered?
The most accurate answer is narrow: construction at the Lesotho Highlands Water Project has caused at least one confirmed raw-effluent pollution incident connected to the Polihali transfer-tunnel contractor. LHDA responded with a targeted suspension, a deadline for a remedial compliance plan and interim containment and treatment requirements.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe available public evidence does not demonstrate project-wide or persistent river contamination. Establishing that broader claim would require published monitoring results comparing post-incident water quality with the project’s pre-construction baselines at affected and downstream sites.
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