OUR HISTORY

Establishment

In the 1990s, discussions began between mining companies and various Governmental departments at national and provincial level, to source raw water for mining activities along the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in the Limpopo Province.

The position of the then Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) was that there was no water available for industrial / mining ventures until a new dam could be built within the Olifants River (i.e. the Rooipoort Dam, which was supposed to be built on the Olifants River, but this was later changed in favour of building the De Hoop Dam on the Steelpoort River, which was completed in 2014). However, it was also noted that the water allocation of the Arabie Irrigation Scheme (a water infrastructure scheme drawing water from the Arabie Dam, which was later re-named the Flag Boshielo Dam) was not being fully utilised.

After much discussion, DWAF agreed, with the consensus of the Department of Agriculture, that a Government water institution, to be called the Lebalelo Water User Association (now known as Badirammogo or BWUA), would be temporarily licensed to abstract a specified volume of water out of the Olifants River from the Flag Boshielo Dam. This allocation was to be “borrowed” from the non-utilised irrigation volume for a period of seven years. The Association, it was agreed, would also fund and construct the associated bulk raw water infrastructure.

Construction

Following consultations with communities along the pipeline route and a rigorous tender process, Lebalelo (now Badirammogo) commissioned the construction of the abstraction weir, settling ponds, pump houses, storage dams, pipeline and associated infrastructure in what became known then as the Lebalelo Scheme. This bulk raw water infrastructure scheme now comprises of a 110 km pipeline from the Olifants River passing along the various mining operations and communities.

The construction of the original Lebalelo Scheme was completed on time and within budget in 2002. During the building of the scheme, provision was made for abstraction points where DWS or any other Water Services Authority (WSA) would be able to abstract raw water for purification and supply to 103 villages.

In 2005, the Association was granted permission to extend its area of jurisdiction and admit new members. Following this, the Southern Extension 1 (SE1) pipeline was built, with construction completed in 2007, on time and within budget.

As far back as 2012, the Association opened discussions with Government to further extend the Association’s jurisdiction to include the Flag Boshielo / Mogalakwena Regional Raw Water Scheme (the Northern Extension or Northern Limb). However, no formal agreement was reached.

In March 2024, the Southern Extension 2 (SE2) Phase 1 project reached practical completion, within the original budget and the approved time schedule. SE2 Phase 1 saw the construction of an additional pump station at Spitskop, a reservoir at Dwarsrivier and approximately 15km of bulk raw water pipeline parallel to the original SE1.

Relationship with the ORWRDP

In parallel to the Association’s construction of the Lebalelo Scheme, the Department for Water and Sanitation (DWS) conceptualised the Olifants River Water Resource Development Project (ORWRDP) to address the water needs of the middle Olifants River catchment area in Limpopo. The aim of the project was to build a new dam and pipelines to take pressure off of Flag Boshielo Dam, the key regional source of water in the area, in order to provide water to the water stressed city of Polokwane, and, in doing so, free up water for the water-stressed Mogalakwena Local Municipality area.

DWS, represented by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), completed the following phases of the original ORWRDP

• Phase 1A – the raising of the Flag Boshielo dam by 5 m (which the Association financed);
• Phase 2A – building of the De Hoop dam, the thirteenth-largest in the country, with a 347-million-cubic-metre reservoir capacity; and
• Phase 2C – the pipeline from De Hoop dam to Steelpoort.

BWUA’s Olifants Management Model Programme (OMMP) is resequencing and expanding Phase 2 of the original ORWRDP to include potable water infrastructure provisioning. The project will start with Phase 2B and 2B+, followed by Phase 2D and 2F, while deferring Phase 2E to optimise capital expenditure.

Find out more about the OMMP here: https://lebalelo.co.za/omp/