Its purpose is to provide drinking water to local villagers and to support a horticultural project.
The reservoir has 40,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×109 cu ft) active storage capacity.
[3] The pipeline network to deliver the water will be 174 kilometres (108 mi) long when completed.
[3] The engineering service contract for design review, procurement and consultancy during construction of the dam was given to SMEC Holdings of Australia.
[4] In May 2010 the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources warned that the water pipes from the Lotsane Dam to the villages would cut across some ploughing fields belonging to Maunatlala and Mokokwane residents, but said that the villagers would be compensated.