The political ecology of water quality monitoring in Lesotho mining enclaves

Abstract

The extraction of natural resources by local and global mining companies in Lesotho has significant impacts on human and physical geography of their immediate environments. Formal laws and safeguards to prevent environmental and social harms exist, but they are insufficient to address progressive harms and degradation. Using a political ecology framing, this paper examines how mining investors and government/state actors contribute to water pollution in Lesotho. In doing so, the study centres the water quality monitoring challenges that local mining settlements experience. Using the district of Mokhotlong as a case study, qualitative data gathered through desktop review, key informants interviews and focus groups sheds light on the dynamics and tensions surrounding mining activity in Mokhotlong. The state and mining company appear to collude to minimise and silence local concerns, even though Mokhotlong residents are exposed to river pollution, risk of dam explosion and wetland degradation. This study concludes that Lesotho’s environmental crisis is deeply embedded in the wider political economy of degradation, desiccation and human impact. If the political dimensions of water quality monitoring in Lesotho's mining enclaves are not recognised, then water pollution will continue to impact rivers and local livelihoods.