The Economic and Social Value of Water in Lesotho and South Africa: A Macroeconomic Baseline Analysis

Lesotho is the mountain kingdom. It is also one of the most important rainfall catchments in Southern Africa. This blesses Lesotho with abundant water and there is rarely, if ever, a shortage of natural water. Lesotho also capitalizes on this water bounty by transferring some of these resources to South Africa. One of the important transfers is to the Vaal River, which sustains Gauteng and surrounds, the industrial heartland of South Africa. Any restraint on these water transfers will, arguably, have a significant and negative impact on the South African economy.