This week Seinoli Legal Centre continues to visit the remaining communities in Makhaleng which form part of those that will be affected by the Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer Scheme, by providing legal Education and assisting the communities to establish community leadership structures that will enable them to effectively engage with project implementers and ensure that the rights and interests of the community are protected.

This project will take away the communities’ different means of livelihood such as fields, pastures, medicinal plants, and other important natural resources, and also affect their cultural practices and traditions.

It should be noted that these communities did not know about this project until Seinoli conducted awareness-raising campaigns in 2021. The communities claim they were completely in the dark regarding any information about this project as they’ve only seen groups of people and vehicles going in and out of the villages conducting what seems like surveys.

The communities requested that since their lives are at stake, they should be provided with all the necessary information concerning the project and informed about the dam processes.