Water and Sanitaion Minister Pemmy Majodina and Lesotho’s Minister of Natural Resources, Mohlomi Moleko. Picture: Facebook/GCIS The Department of Water and Sanitation has been under fire for the delays in finishing Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) as the budget for the project has ballooned to R53 billion, from the forecasted R8 billion made almost two decades ago. In an attempt to get the public to understand more about the project, the department hosted South African journalists in Lesotho from Friday, 12 December to Tuesday, 16 December.
Four days of frustration, miscommunication and mistreatment – leaving many journalists wondering why they accepted to go on the trip. The initial deadline of the second phase of the LHWP was 2019, however, this has been extended to 2028-29. Minister Pemmy Majodina, during her address in Lesotho on Sunday, 14 December, said she would not allow any further extension, as South Africa has no more money to put into the project.
However, if the department failed to plan a trip for journalists to assess the project’s progress, how can they be expected to complete a complex and expensive task that risks leaving South Africans without enough water? The first red flag about the trip was the desperation for a journalist fromThe Citizento attend; multiple messages and calls were received to confirm attendance, bordering on harassment. The invite was late; it was sent on the evening of Friday, 5 December, and an answer was requested immediately, despite the cut-off time for confirmation being Monday, 8 December.
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Also, according to the invite, it was only signed on 4 December. Any trip, especially one out of the country, requires discussions in the newsroom to determine who can go. Due to the lateness of the invite, I was the only journalist available to attend; however, once I agreed to attend, we as journalists were treated like second-class citizens.
Even after confirming before the cut-off time, the department delayed confirming travel arrangements. The pick-up location of the “ground transport” was made known on Thursday afternoon, a day before journalists were scheduled to leave. Even the accommodation was only made known on that day.
The invite promised journalists an itinerary “once finalised”; this was made up at the end of each day of the trip or sent in the morning. A proper itinerary outlines what to pack, among other things. Communication from the department just said “you are advised to pack warm clothes, as it is very cold up there in the Mountain Kingdom” and “protective shoes (PPE) in order to access construction sites”.
Journalists were told they would not be able to access the sites if they were not wearing safety boots. In the bus while debating about how the department is supposed to organise the safety boots for journalists, an official from the department said she advises journalists to buy the boots as this will not be the last time they are requested to be in possession of them, “after all, they are just around R700,” she said.
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