Zimbabwe, South Africa inks MoU for Beitbridge drinking water treatment plant

The government of Zimbabwe and South Africa have sealed a memorandum of understanding involving the Beitbridge drinking water treatment plant.

The deal inked between South African Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and his Zimbabwean counterpart, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Anxious Jongwe Masuka, aims at addressing water shortages in the region while strengthening diplomatic ties and regional cooperation.

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Sealed deal

The MoU will see Zimbabwe committed to transferring water treated at its Beitbridge drinking water treatment plant to the South African town of Musina, which is facing severe water shortages. Musina will be supplied with 15 million m3 of drinking water per year, sourced from the plant.

Additional infrastructure work will be undertaken to facilitate the water transfer, including increasing pumping capacity at the Limpopo intake, installing a riser pipe to the storage facility, and enhancing the electrical capacity of the Beitbridge drinking water treatment plant.

The water supply from Zimbabwe to South Africa will be sold to the South African government, indicating a commercial aspect to the agreement. The water supply to Musina is expected to alleviate the water shortages affecting the town’s population, which is projected to be around 132,009 in 2024.

The MoU also aligns with broader regional cooperation efforts, as evidenced by the signing of the Limcom Agreement involving Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa, which aims to promote the management and equitable use of shared water resources, such as the Limpopo River.