Case Study Consultation : South Africa

The consultation was held in Pretoria, South Africa, to invite the views and suggestions of a full range of stakeholders on the experience and lessons learnt from South Africa's Orange River Project, and the Gariep dam in particular. The WCD is conducting a pilot study on the Gariep dam in order to test and refine the open, participatory and interdisciplinary approach it will employ in examining several large dams in the context of the river basins in which they are situated world-wide. In addition to offering their perspectives on the Gariep dam and Orange River Basin, participants at the consultation also gave feedback to the WCD on its draft methodology.

Although several stakeholders were interested in discussing the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), the WCD conveyed that the Gariep dam was chosen as the central focus of the pilot study because of the emphasis being placed on analysing projects that have been completed and have a considerable track record in order to comprehensively assess the longer term performance and development effectiveness of large dams. Given the WCD's interest in placing its in-depth studies of large dams in the context of the river basins in which they are located, the LHWP would be included to the degree it has had an impact, or been affected by, the Gariep dam/Orange River Project. A regional public consultation in Africa is also being planned by the WCD to give stakeholders an opportunity to share their position on other large dams and river basins in region, such as the LHWP.

The WCD will hold another meeting of the stakeholder group before finalizing its report on the Gariep dam/Orange River Project in mid-1999. It is grateful for the contribution all those present made to fulfilling its mandate in an transparent and inclusive manner.