Case studies: South Africa

Lesotho Water Project – AngloGold Ashanti CSI Fund sponsors second phase

Lesotho is one of AngloGold Ashanti’s main labour-sending areas with some 20% of employees at its South African operations coming from this neighbouring country. In line with its commitment to supporting development in communities where the families of its workers live, AngloGold Ashanti CSI Fund has been sponsoring the Lesotho Water Project which has been run by Teba Development since 2001 (see case study on Lesotho water project - bringing a much needed resource to employees' families in the Report to Society 2004). Teba Development is a not-for-profit company which undertakes development projects in rural labour-sending areas on behalf of the South African mining industry.

Background

Many years ago the government of Lesotho provided villages in the lowland areas with boreholes fitted with hand-operated pumps. Maintenance of these pumps has dropped to near-zero and research has indicated that there are many areas where these hand pumps are no longer working. Apart from the inconvenience of not having access to a reliable supply of clean water, the situation poses a health hazard to the affected communities. After examining the problem, Teba Development took the view that a simple strategy of facilitating community ownership and involvement and the maintaining of infrastructure was the most effective solution.

The outcome was the establishment of a programme, in partnership with Mngcunube Development and sponsored by the AngloGold Ashanti CSI Fund, to repair and maintain boreholes in villages in the Mafeteng District.

How the project works

The repair work is done by a ‘water team’ which comprises experienced people and trainees who are provided with trailers containing all the tools and materials they require. Pumps in need of major repairs are taken to a fully equipped workshop.

The mentoring of trainees, who are former mineworkers, forms an important part of this project. Not only does this provide employment opportunities, but it ensures that the initiative can be sustained in the long term.

Teba Development facilitates the setting up of local committees in the villages where water pumps are being repaired and these committees are trained in pump maintenance. They then assume responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the refurbished pumps, appointing a member of the committee to supervise the use of every pump. They also collect funds from the communities on a monthly basis and this money is held at the local branch of Teba Bank to meet the costs of repairs in the future.

Soon after the project started it became apparent that it was not possible to keep to a schedule that was too rigid and to confine services to the planned villages only. One day a week is set aside for emergency response and for other problems identified by Lesotho’s Department of Rural Water Supply, with which government agency the project has a strong co-operative relationship.

Achievements

From the inception of the project to the end of December 2007, 907 water points across 174 villages had been repaired, providing about 36,280 households with reliable access to safe water. Put a different way, 10% of the villages in Lesotho that depend on boreholes for their water supply had been assisted. During this period an average of five pumps a month were substantially rebuilt in the workshop. At present there are two ‘water mentors’, one of whom started as a trainee and two trainees are competent to work independently. The project cannot employ all the people who are trained. In view of this the Department of Rural Water Supply has been approached and has agreed in principle to engage people trained by the project as contractors.

By the end of 2007, a total of R3.7 million had been spent on the project since inception, of which the AngloGold Ashanti CSI Fund had contributed R2.3 million.

Second phase

The project entered a second phase in late 2006 when it acquired a second equipped trailer and tool set. This meant that the target for refurbishing boreholes and pumps could be raised from an average of 21 a month to 25 or more, and the number of pumps rebuilt in the workshop increased from five to six or seven. In 2007 the AngloGold Ashanti CSI Fund granted R540,000 to cover the repair of 50 boreholdes.

AngloGold Ashanti Community and Social Development Manager for South Africa Butiki Loliwe commented: “We had no hesitation in giving this project further support because it is making a difference to the lives of so many families of our employees. The fact that it has been running for a number of years demonstrates that this project is sustainable. We are particularly pleased that local people are being trained and given the opportunity to start up their own businesses.”