Folk tales of the Golden Goose: Lesotho Highlands Water Project and Lesotho’s Ivory

• In Event: STS Africa: Infrastructures

Abstract

This paper seeks to chronicle the sociocultural and environmental narratives of Lesotho, tracing the deeds of Lesotho Highlands Water Project to the landscape, the people and the culture of this nation. It focuses on narrating stories of resettlement due to large dam constructions, loss of aquatic life, biodiversity and the picturesque vernacular landscape, eroded authorities and challenged cultures, all because of the need to make the landscape more global through commodifying it. This paper addresses the consequence of bureaucrats who run Lesotho and its rural landscape from red-carpeted boardrooms in urban settings. From the tick of their pens, a vernacular landscape was no more and indigenous knowledge overlooked, in its place is sprawls of walls of cement, steel bars and everything symbolic of commodification and contemporary landscape all through the transnational movement of water. The story this paper re-counts is that of ‘anti-civilization of environment for commercial benefit’. While the trickle-down effect that was spoken about due to water sales, is but a myth for those affected by the dam construction in Lesotho, many livelihoods have been distorted, cultural practices given up, indigenous knowledge snubbed and ecosystem of Lesotho overlooked; yet Anthropocene thrives dressed as development and technology advancement. Based on the research I undertook for my PhD study on Katse and Mohale Dams, this paper will highlight the mediatized success of LHWP at the expense of fictitious commodity water has become.

Author

• Kefiloe Sello, University of Cape Town