We need your inputs for an application to amend and renew the WUL issued to Bethlehem Hydro for its Merino & Sol Plaatje Power Plants in the Free State.
Bethlehem Hydro operates two (2) hydro power stations with water released from the Ash River by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), namely the Sol Plaatje Power Plant, which is situated on the wall of the Sol Plaatje Dam in Bethlehem, and the Merino Power Plant, which is located about 16 km due south of Sol Plaatje, both under the jurisdiction of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality (part of the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality) in the Free State province. These power plants utilise water released by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (“LHWP”).
The water uses at these power plants entail the following activities as described under section 21 of the NWA:
- Section 21(b): the storage of water behind a weir in the Ash River at Merino Power Plant;
- Section 21(c): impeding or diverting the flow of water from the Ash River (at Merino) and from the Sol Plaatje Dam (at Sol Plaatje) through the power plant turbines by means of diversion canals;
- Section 21(e): power generation activity that alters the flow regime of a water course; and
- Section 21(i): the alteration of the characteristics of a water course by conducting operational activities on the banks of the Ash River, returning water back into the Ash River (at Merino) and into theLiebenbergsvlei River (at Sol Plaatje), and maintenance of the riverbanks by removing of erosion deposits from the watercourse and improvements to the canals and surrounding riverbanks for slope stability and erosion control.

These water uses have been authorised by the Department of Water and Sanitation in terms of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (NWA) in terms of a Water Use License (WUL), and Bethlehem Hydro intends to apply for the amendment and renewal of this WUL in terms of sections 50(1), 50(3), 52(1), and 158(2) of the NWA. The WUL Renewal and Amendment Application will not entail any changes to water uses, and volumes of water being abstracted or disposed as well as the footprints of diversion structures as authorised in the current WUL will remain unchanged. The application for the renewal and amendment of the current WUL issued to Bethlehem Hydro is to split the WUL into two, so that water uses requiring authorisation under a WUL that take place at MERINO are described in one WUL and water uses requiring authorisation under a WUL that take place SOL PLAATJE are described in its own WUL.
We need your input:
The application for the renewal and amendment of the current WUL issued to Bethlehem Hydrohas to be supported by a Technical Report, which has to indicate how stakeholder concerns are to be addressed. The Technical Report is currently being compiled by an independent water governance specialist, namely Carin Bosman of CBSS.
To ensure that the aspects addressed in the Technical Report are based on objectives that reflect the needs and requirements of all stakeholders relating to the application to amend and renew the WUL for Bethlehem Hydro, we need your assistance: Please complete this I&AP Feedback Card and tell us about your role, your expectations on aspects that the WUL Amendment Application should address, and how addressing a particular aspect will help you, or in your opinion, lead to better protection of surface- and groundwater resources near the Power Plants.
We will use these inputs to inform the formulation of the WUL Amendment Application and the Technical Documents that supports it.
You are hereby invited to register as an interested and/or affected person for the WUL Renewal and Amendment Application process by completing the Feedback Card. Such registration will enable you to provide inputs into the objectives of the Technical Report, and the Renewal and Amendment of the WUL.
Registration is open until 28 February 2025, to facilitate the arrangement of consultation sessions within 60 days from the date of this notice.