Speaker: Dr. John Aerni-Flessner, Michigan State University/The University of the Free State
Based on a book coming out in February 2026, this talk will explore the history of the negotiations for and construction of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). The LHWP supplies around half of Johannesburg’s water; it is an engineering marvel, successfully transferring around 800 cubic meters of water a year and yet many in both South Africa and Lesotho see it as being emblematic of governmental failure in the 21st century.
Lacking access to consistent, affordable, potable water, communities in Lesotho and South Africa regularly engage in “service delivery” protests. The book argues that the twenty-year history of formal negotiations on the project (1966-1986) and its signing by two undemocratic regimes — the apartheid regime in South Africa and a military government in Lesotho — has worked against any popular perception of benefit from the project. Inequitable access to water means that many citizens in both countries see the LHWP as a continuation of the Cold War and apartheid.
Hosted by the Department of Anthropology and co-sponsored by the Center for Culture, History, and Environment, African Studies Program, and African Cultural Studies.