The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is ready for the upcoming six-month closure of the Lesotho Highlands tunnel for maintenance from October until March 2025.

The department and relevant stakeholders in the water sector have taken all necessary measures to ensure that the water supply in Gauteng will not be affected during the shutdown, said DWS Gauteng provincial head Justice Maluleke.

“The main message is that we are ready for the tunnel closure and the public must not panic; we have all the plans in place, and we will be communicating”, he told delegates at a City Meets Business engagement session, hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni at the Alberton Civic Centre on June 21.

The department is working with all stakeholders from Lesotho, the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, Rand Water, the cities of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg and other entities, and while there may be challenges along the way, Maluleke expressed confidence in the preparedness to handle any obstacles that may arise.

“In a worst-case scenario of shortage of water supply, the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) has 13 dams that supply water to the system. This is only at the worst-case scenario when the Vaal dam is around 18%, but since the closure will be during the rainy season, we do not anticipate that that is going to happen,” he said.

Maluleke assured businesses that they have nothing to worry about and further advised them to build on-site storage facilities for water in order to continue with their operations.

DWS system operation scientist manager Celiwe Ntuli supported Maluleke’s assertion by stating that the analysis shows no risk of water shortage in the IVRS.