South Africa and Lesotho have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a framework of cooperation on the proposed construction of two weirs on the Mohokare/ Caledon river and to ensure efficient management and sustainable development of the water resources.

The framework of cooperation, signed by South Africa's Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Lesotho’s Natural Resources Minister Mohlomi Moleko, will enable access for Lesotho to the South African side of the river to construct two weirs under its Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture (MDIH) project for the development of irrigation infrastructure on identified irrigatable sites in the Mohokare river.

The Mohokare river forms a large part of Lesotho’s north-western border with South Africa, starting in the Maloti Mountains of northern Lesotho, and becoming the Caledon river as it continues through the Free State province in South Africa.

The weirs, the construction of which will run across the river to South Africa, will allow for storage of water to provide Lesotho year-round irrigation, even during the dry seasons when water levels in the river are low.

The Lesotho MDIH schemes require about 6.35-million cubic metres a year (m³/y) of additional water, but could increase to 9.79-million m³/y in a dry year for the 1 580 ha in the simulated schemes.

For South Africa, the construction of the abstraction weirs will assist in reducing sedimentation, a major concern in the Caledon river.

The weirs will also be used for water quantity measuring as well as flood tracing purposes on the Caledon river.

The parties signed the MoU during the second session of the BiNational Commission (BNC) held in Maseru, in Lesotho, which was led by Lesotho Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The BNC aims to foster strong political and bilateral relations between the two countries; deepen economic cooperation taking into consideration the regional value chains; review the implementation of the outcomes of the BNC inaugural session taken two years ago; and agree on newly identified priority areas for mutual benefit.