List of rivers of South Africa

A map showing South Africa's cities, main towns, selected villages, rivers, and its highest peak.

This is a list of rivers in South Africa.

It is quite common to find the Afrikaans word -rivier as part of the name. Another common suffix is "-kamma", from the Khoisan term for "river"^[1] (often tautologically the English term "river" is added to the name). The Zulu word amanzi (water) also forms part of some river names.

The Afrikaans term spruit (compare spring) often labels small rivers.

List

River	Drainage basin^[A]	Province and location	Source location (town / mountains)	Tributary of (river)	Dam in river	Mouth / junction at location (town)	Mouth / junction coordinates
Amandawe River		Amandawe, KwaZulu-Natal	north west of Amandawe	north of Scottburgh		Umpambanyoni River	30°15′30″S 30°45′0″E
Amahlongwa River		Amahlongwa, KwaZulu-Natal	south west of Amahlongwa	west of uMkomaas		Indian Ocean	30°15′30″S 30°44′0″E
Amanzimtoti River, (Manzimtoti River) (Toti River)	U7	KwaZulu-Natal, Amanzimtoti	northwest of Adams Mission			Indian Ocean	30°3′S 30°52′E
Apies River	A2	Gauteng, Tshwane, Pretoria	Bronberg, southeast of Pretoria	Moretele River, then Crocodile River and Limpopo River	Bon Accord Dam	Makapanstad	25°14′24″S 28°08′36″E
As River (or Axel River)	C8	Free State	Southeast of Bethlehem	Liebenbergsvlei River, then Wilge River	Sol Plaatjie Dam		28°13′27″S 28°21′58″E
Assegaai River	W5	Mpumalanga	North of Wakkerstroom	Mkondo River	Heyshope Dam	Swaziland border	27°04′46″S 31°02′19″E
Baakens River		Eastern Cape	Port Elizabeth
Bamboes Spruit	C2	North West	South of Ottosdal	Vaal River	Bloemhof Dam		27°40′15″S 25°37′40″E
Baviaanskloof River	L8	Western and Eastern Cape	North of Plettenberg Bay	Kouga River			33°39′53″S 24°23′37″E
Bell River	D1	Eastern Cape	Near Naudé's Neck	Kraai River, then Orange River		Near Moshesh's Ford	30°51′08″S 27°46′43″E
Berg River (or Great Berg River)	G1	Western Cape	Franschhoek Drakenstein		Berg River Dam	Velddrif north of Vredenburg, Atlantic Ocean	32°46′13.00″S 18°8′39.66″E
Berg River	D3	Free State	22 km Southwest of Jagersfontein	Orange River	Vanderkloof Dam	Vanderkloof Dam	29°59′43″S 24°46′48″E
Bhira River	R5	Eastern Cape	North of Eleqolweni			between Port Alfred and East London, near Begha, Indian Ocean	33°23′00″S 27°19′33″E
Bivane River	W5	KwaZulu-Natal		Pongola River	Bivane Dam
Black Kei River		Eastern Cape	Southwest of Queenstown	Great Kei River
Blesbokspruit (or Blesbok Spruit)	C2	Gauteng	North of Daveyton	Vaal River
Blood River (or Ncome River)	V3	KwaZulu-Natal	Knight's Pass, Utrecht	Buffalo River
Bloukrans River	V1	KwaZulu-Natal	North of Giant's Castle in the Drakensberg foothills	Tugela River	none	near Tugela Estates, Weenen area	28°45′30″S 30°08′55″E
Bloukrans River	K	Western and Eastern Cape border	Near Peak Formosa	n.a.		Near Bloukrans Bridge	33°58′44″S 23°38′49″E
Bloukrans River		Eastern Cape	Near Grahamstown	Kowie River	none	Near Langholm, Grahamstown	33°24′38″S 26°39′05″E
Blyde River (or Motlatse River)	B6	Mpumalanga	West of Sabie	Olifants River	Blyderivierpoort Dam	Lissataba game farm, Mica area	24°15′13″S 30°49′50″E
Boesmans River		Western Cape	Northeast of Pearly Beach	Uilkraal River		Uilkraalsmond (south of Gans Bay), Atlantic Ocean	34°36′21″S 19°24′32″E
Boesmans River		Eastern Cape	North of Kirkwood (Eastern Cape)			Kenton on Sea, Indian Ocean	33°41′32″S 26°39′50″E
Boesmanspruit (or Boesman Spruit)		Mpumalanga	South of Secunda	Waterval River then into the Vaal River
Bonte River		Western Cape			Alphen Dam
Bot River	G	Western Cape	South of Teewaterskloof Dam		Fortuin Reservoir	Fischerhaven, Atlantic Ocean	34°22′05″S 19°05′53″E
Braamfontein Spruit (or Braamfonteinspruit)		Gauteng	Greymont Roodepoort	Jukskei River	Emmarentia Dam
Brak River	A7	Limpopo		Sand River (Polokwane)	Magkabeng Plateau		22°36′15″S 29°44′0″E
Breede River (or Breë River)	H	Western Cape, Overberg	near Ceres the Koekedou River and Dwars River become the Bree River			West of Mossel Bay, Indian Ocean	34°24′15″S 20°51′06″E
Bronkhorst Spruit (or Bronkhorstspruit)	B2	Gauteng		Wilge River	Bronkhorstspruit Dam
Buffeljags River		Western Cape	joining of the Tredou River and Grootvadersbos River	Breede River	Buffeljags Dam
Buffalo River (Eastern Cape)	R2	Eastern Cape	Northwest of King William's Town		Laing Dam, Bridle Drift Dam	East London harbour	33°01′45″S 27°54′57″E
Buffalo River (KwaZulu-Natal)	V3	KwaZulu-Natal	northeast of Volksrust	Tugela River
Buffels River	F3	Northern Cape					29.67642°S 17.051811°E / -29.67642; 17.051811 (Buffels River mouth (Northern Cape))
Buffels River	J1	Western Cape	The Komsberg River and the Venters River, join to become the Buffels River		Floriskraal Dam	at Buffelspoort, the Klein-Swartberg River joins the Buffels River to become the Groot River	33.467929°S 20.983973°E / -33.467929; 20.983973 (Buffels River junction (Western Cape))
Bushman River	V	KwaZulu-Natal	at Giant's Castle	Tugela River	Wagendrift Dam
Caledon River	D2	Free State border Lesotho and South Africa	southwest of Witsieshoek	Orange River	Knellpoort Dam, Welbedacht Dam	Bethulie	30°31′0″S 26°5′46″E
Chalumna River (or Tyolomnqa River)	R4	Eastern Cape
Crocodile River	X3	Mpumalanga	North of Dullstroom	Komati River	Kwena Dam	Komatipoort
Crocodile River	A3	North West, Gauteng and Limpopo	Roodepoort	Limpopo River	Hartbeespoort Dam Roodekoppies Dam
Diep River	G	Western Cape	North of Malmesbury			Table Bay Cape Town	33°53′27″S 18°22′55″E
Diep River	A7	Limpopo	Southeast of Polokwane	Sand River
Doring River		Western Cape and Eastern Cape	Northeast of Ceres	Olifants River	Doring River Dam
Duiwenhoks River		Western Cape	North of Heidelberg			West of Mossel Bay, Indian Ocean	34°21′56″S 21°00′01″E
Elands River	B2	Gauteng	Near Rayton	Olifants River	Rust de Winter Dam, Rhenosterkop Dam	Marble Hall	24°55′27″S 29°20′45″E
Elands River	A	North West Province	Near Koster	Crocodile River (West)	Vaalkop Dam		24°17′18″S 27°31′8″E
Elands River	X3	Mpumalanga	Northeast of Belfast	Crocodile River (East)
Ga-Selati River		Limpopo	Wolkberg	Olifants River		South of Phalaborwa
Gamka River	J	Western Cape	North of Beaufort West	Gourits River	Gamkapoort Dam	South of Calitzdorp
Gamtoos River	L9	Eastern Cape	The Kouga River and Groot River become the Gamtoos River			Northeast of Jeffreys Bay	33°58′12″S 25°02′03″E
Gouritz River (or Gourits River)		Western Cape	The Gamka River and Olifants River become the Gourits River			at Gouritsmond	34°20′47″S 21°53′08″E
Great Fish River (Groot-Vis River)		Eastern Cape	East of Graaff-Reinet			North of Seafield, Indian Ocean	33°29′44″S 27°08′09″E
Groenrivier (Green River)		Northern Cape				About 120 km NNW of Strandfontein by Green River Mouth Lighthouse
Great Kei River (Groot-Kei)		Eastern Cape	The Swart-Kei River and the White Kei River become the Great Kei River			Kei Mouth, Indian Ocean	32°40′45″S 28°23′07″E
Great Letaba River	B8	Limpopo	The Great Letaba River and Little Letaba River become the Letaba River	Letaba River	Ebenezer Dam
Great Usutu River (or Maputo River)	W5	KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mozambique	Northwest of Amsterdam			South of Maputo, Mozambique	26°10′22″S 32°41′45″E
Great Brak River	K	Western Cape		Perdeberg River, Tweeriviere River and Varings River	Wolwedans Dam	Great Brak River, Indian Ocean
Groot Brak River		Eastern Cape	North of Steynsburg	Teebusspruit		Great Fish River
Groot Marico River (or Great Marico River)		North West
Groot River		Eastern Cape	where the Kariega River and Sout River join	Gamtoos River	Beervlei Dam
Groot River		partly the border between Eastern Cape and Western Cape	The Buffels River becomes the Groot River from where the Klein-Swartberg River joins the Buffels	Gouritz River	Beervlei Dam
Groot River		Western Cape		Doring River
Groot Vet River		Free State
Groot Vlei River		Eastern Cape
Hantams River		Northern Cape
Hartbees River		Northern Cape
Hartenbos River		Western Cape
Harts River		North West
Hennops River		Gauteng	East of Tembisa	Crocodile River
Heuningnesrivier		Western Cape
Hex River	H	Western Cape		Breede River
Hex River		North West		Elands River	Bospoort Dam
Hluhluwe River	W	KwaZulu-Natal	Hluhluwe Game Reserve	Hluhluwe River	Hluhluwe Dam lake St Lucia
Hoeksrivier		Western Cape
Hol River		Eastern Cape
Honde River		Gauteng
Hout River	A7	Limpopo		Sand River (Polokwane)		Hout River Dam	23°4′2″S 29°34′45″E
Incomati River		Mpumalanga
Indwe River		Eastern Cape				Lubisi Dam
Ingulube	C2	Gauteng	West of Nigel	Spaarwater	Vaal River
Intombe River		KwaZulu-Natal
Jakkals River		Western Cape
Jordaan River		Free State
Jordaanspruit		Free State			Bloemhoek Dam
Jukskei River		Gauteng		Crocodile River (West) then Limpopo River
Kaaimans River		Western Cape
Kabeljous River		Eastern Cape				Jeffreys Bay	34°00′19″S 24°56′08″E
Kaalspruit		Free State
Kaba River		KwaZulu-Natal
Kamma River		Western Cape
Kammanassie River		Eastern Cape
Kandandlovu River		KwaZulu-Natal
Karatara River		Eastern Cape
Karoospruit		Free State
Kat River		Eastern Cape, Seymour, Fort Beaufort	Amatola Mountains	Great Fish River	Katrivier Dam	Great Fish River south of Fort Beaufort	32°59′44″S 26°47′05″E
Kat Spruit		Mpumalanga
Kariega River		Eastern Cape			Settlers Dam	Kenton-on-Sea
Keisers River		Western Cape
Keiskamma River	R1	Eastern Cape	Amatola Mountains		Sandile Dam	Hamburg northeast of Port Alfred, Indian Ocean	33°17′S 27°29′E
Keurbooms River		Western Cape, Plettenberg Bay				Northeast of Plettenberg Bay, Indian Ocean
Kingna River		Western Cape
Klaas Smits River		Eastern Cape	South of Molteno	Swart-Kei River
Klaserie River		Mpumalanga
Klasies River		Eastern Cape, Tsitsikamma coast	Klasies River Caves
Little Letaba River	B8	Limpopo	The Great Letaba River and Little Letaba River become the Letaba River	Letaba River
Klein Marico River		North West
Klein Olifants River		Mpumalanga
Klein River		Western Cape				Hermanus, Indian Ocean	34°25′17″S 19°18′03″E
Klip River		Western Cape
Klip River		KwaZulu-Natal
Klip River		Eastern Cape
Knysna River		Western Cape
Kobongaba River		Eastern Cape
Komani River		Eastern Cape	North of Queenstown	Klaas Smits River	Bongolo Dam
Komati River (or Incomati, Nkomati)	X1	Mpumalanga, Komati Gorge
Koshwana River		KwaZulu-Natal
Kouga River	L8	Eastern Cape
Kowie River		Eastern Cape	Grahamstown				Port Alfred
Kraai River	D1	Eastern Cape	Confluence of Bell River, Sterkspruit and Joggem River at Moshesh's Ford, Eastern Cape Drakensberg	Orange River		Aliwal North	30°40′S 26°45′E
Kromdraai Spruit		Mpumalanga
Krom River		Eastern Cape
Krom River		Western Cape, Stellenbosch
Kuils River		Western Cape
Kwenxura River		Eastern Cape
Laai Spruit		Free State
Langvlei River		Western Cape
Latonyanda River		Limpopo
Liesbeek River (also spelt Liesbeeck)		Western Cape
Leeu River		Free State			Armenia Dam
Levubu River (or Luvuvhu, Pafuri River)	A9	Limpopo			Albasini Dam	Limpopo River	22°25′32″S 31°18′25″E
Lephalala River (see Palala River)	A5	Limpopo			Vischgat Dam, Susandale Dam
Letaba River	B8	Limpopo	The Great Letaba River and Little Letaba River become the Letaba River	Olifants River
Liebenbergsvlei River	C8	Free State
Liesbeeck River		Western Cape
Letsitele River		Limpopo
Liesbeek River		Western Cape, Cape Town
Limpopo River	A	Limpopo, on Zimbabwe, Botswana borders	The Marico River and the Crocodile River become the Limpopo River			Xai-Xai, Mozambique into Indian Ocean
Little Brak River (or Klein Brak)		Eastern Cape				Little Brak River, Indian Ocean	34°05′31″S 22°08′55″E
Lourens River		Western Cape
Lovu River(Illovu)	U7	KwaZulu-Natal	West of Richmond		Beaulieu Estate Dam	Lovu Langoon at Illovu Beach, Indian Ocean	30°6′S 30°51′E
Lower Brandvlei River		Western Cape			Brandvlei Dam
Lunsklip River		Mpumalanga
Lyndoch River		Eastern Cape
Maitland River	M	Eastern Cape				West of Port Elizabeth	33°59′14″S 25°17′37″E[2]
Malips River		Limpopo Province	Olifants River (Limpopo)
Maputo River (or Great Usutu)		Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
Marico River	A2	North West	Groot-Marico River	Limpopo River
Matlabas River		Limpopo
Mbhashe River		Eastern Cape, Transkei region	East of Elliot			South of The Haven, Eastern Cape	32°14′56″S 28°54′00″E
Mbango River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mbizana River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mbodi River		Limpopo
Mbokodweni River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mdesingane River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mdlotane River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mdloti River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mdumbe River		Eastern Cape
Mgobezeleni River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mgwalana River		Eastern Cape
Mhlabatshane River		KwaZulu-Natal
Middle Letaba River	B8	Limpopo
Mlalazi River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mhlali River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mhlatuze River	W	KwaZulu-Natal
Mkomazi River		Kwazulu-Natal
Mkuze River	W	KwaZulu-Natal
Mlazi River		KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Mngeni River (or Mgeni, Umgeni)	U	KwaZulu-Natal				north of Durban, Indian Ocean
Modder River		Northern Cape and Free State		Riet River
Mogalakwena River	A6	Limpopo		Limpopo River
Mokolo River (or Mogol River)	A4	Limpopo	The Sand River and Grootspruit River become the Mokolo River	Limpopo	Mokolo Dam
Molopo River	D4	North West border Botswana			Disaneng Dam
Mooi River	V	KwaZulu-Natal		Tugela River
Mooi River		North West		Vaal River	Boskop Dam
Mooi River	T	Eastern Cape
Mpenjati River		KwaZulu-Natal	Near Hamburg			Palm Beach	30°55′59″S 30°16′00″E
Msunduzi River (or Duzi River)		KwaZulu-Natal
Mthatha River		Eastern Cape
Mtamvuna River		KwaZulu-Natal - Eastern Cape border
Mtontwanes River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mugwenya River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mximkulwana River		KwaZulu-Natal
Mzamba River		Eastern Cape, Transkei region
Mzimkulu River (or Umzimkulu)		KwaZulu-Natal
Mzimkulwana river		KwaZulu-Natal, Oribi Gorge
Mzimvubu River		Eastern Cape, Transkei region
Mzumbe River		KwaZulu-Natal
Nahoon River	R3	Eastern Cape, East London
Ngagane River		KwaZulu-Natal
Ngotwane River		North West
Ngwavuma		KwaZulu-Natal		Pongola River			26°57′42″S 32°17′39″E
Nossob River	D4	Northern Cape, Kalahari
Nqabara River		Eastern Cape
Nsama River		Limpopo
Nsuze River	V4	KwaZulu-Natal		Tugela River
Nswamanzi River		KwaZulu-Natal
Nuwejaarspruit		Free State
Nyalazi River		KwaZulu-Natal
Nyl River		Limpopo
Nyoni River		KwaZulu-Natal
Nzhelele River	A8	Limpopo
Nwanedi River		Limpopo
Ohlanga River (or Umhlanga)		KwaZulu-Natal
Ohrigstad River		Mpumalanga
Olifants River	B	Mpumalanga and Limpopo			Loskop Dam, Flag Boshielo Dam
Olifants River		Western Cape Oudtshoorn
Olifants River		Western Cape			Clanwilliam Dam
Ongers River		Northern Cape
Oompies River		Eastern Cape
Orange River (or Gariep River)		Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Free State			Gariep Dam, Vanderkloof Dam, Boegoeberg Dam	Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay, Northern Cape	29°35′S 16°29′E
Os Spruit		Gauteng
Palala River (or Lephalala)	A5	Limpopo
Palmiet River		Western Cape			Eikenhof Dam
Pienaars River	A2	Gauteng and Northwest	northwest of Bronkhorstspruit	Crocodile River	Roodeplaat Dam, Klipvoor Dam
Pienaars River		Eastern Cape
Plankenbrug River		Western Cape
Poesjenels River		Western Cape
Pongola River (or Phongolo)	W5	KwaZulu-Natal
Riet River		Free State		Vaal River
Riet River (Eastern Cape)		Eastern Cape
Rietspruit		Free State
Riviersonderend (or Sonderend River)		Western Cape, Overberg
Rondegat River		Western Cape
Rooiels River		Western Cape
Rufanes River		Eastern Cape
Sabie River		Mpumalanga	X3	Incomati River, Mozambique
Sak River		Northern Cape
Salt River		Western Cape Cape Town
Sand River	A	Limpopo Province		Limpopo River
Sand River		Free State		Vet River	Allemanskraal Dam
Sandspruit		Free State
Sandlundlu River		KwaZulu-Natal
Sandpoort River		Eastern Cape
Selons River	B2	Mpumalanga	Highveld east of Middelburg	Olifants River		Near Loskop Dam	25°22′15″S 29°23′42″E
Smalblaar River		Western Cape
Sout River		Western Cape, Cape Town
Spoeg River		Northern Cape				About 18 km SSE of Hondeklip Bay
Steelpoort River		Mpumalanga
Steenbras River		Western Cape			Steenbras Upper Dam Steenbras Dam	South of Gordon's Bay
Sterkstroom River		North West			Buffelspoort Dam
Storms River		Eastern Cape
Suikerbosrand River	C2	Gauteng				Vereeniging
Sundays River	V1	KwaZulu-Natal		Tugela River
Sundays River	M1	Eastern Cape			Darlington Dam
Swart River		Western Cape	North of Caledon	Bot River
Swartkops River		Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Bay				Bluewater Bay, Indian Ocean
Tamboti River		Limpopo
Tarka River		Eastern Cape
Tele River		Eastern Cape	Southern Drakensberg	Orange River		near Palmietfontein	30.4049°S 27.5583°E / -30.4049; 27.5583
Timbavati River		Mpumalanga		Olifants River		near Olifants Camp, Kruger National Park	24°3′18″S 31°40′39″E
Tongati River		KwaZulu-Natal
Touws River		Western Cape		Groot River
Treur River	B6	Limpopo
Troe-Troe River		Northern Cape
Tsitsikamma River		Eastern Cape
Tsomo River		Eastern Cape
Tugela River	V	KwaZulu-Natal
Tyhume River		Eastern Cape		Keiskamma River	Binfield Park Dam	South-east of Alice	32°54′50″S 26°56′14″E
Uilkraal River		Western Cape				Gans Bay, Atlantic Ocean	34°36′22″S 19°24′33″E
Umbilo River		KwaZulu-Natal
Umfolozi River (Zulu: Mfolozi)	W	KwaZulu-Natal				Maphelana, Indian Ocean	28°23′52″S 32°25′27″E
Black Umfolozi River (Zulu: Mfolozi emnyama)		KwaZulu-Natal
White Umfolozi River (Zulu: Mfolozi emhlophe)		KwaZulu-Natal
Wilge River (Mpumalanga)	B2	Mpumalanga		Olifants River
Wilge River (Free State)	C8	Free State			Vaal Dam
Umgeni River(uMngeni)	U2	KwaZulu-Natal	East of Howick		Midmar Dam, Albert Falls Dam, Inanda Dam, Nagle Dam	near Durban, Indian Ocean	29°48′S 31°2′E
Umvoti River (or Mvoti River)	U	KwaZulu-Natal
Umzimkulu River (Zulu: Mzimkulu)		KwaZulu-Natal
Usutu River		Mpumalanga
Uvuzana River		KwaZulu-Natal
Vaal River	C	Free State and other	North of Ermelo, Mpumalanga	Orange River	Bloemhof Dam, Vaal Dam, Douglas Weir
Vals River		Free State		Vaal River
Van Stadens River		Eastern Cape
Verlorevlei River		Western Cape				Elands Bay Atlantic Ocean	32°18′54″S 18°20′15″E
Vet River		Free State		Vaal River
Vier-en-twintig-riviere (English: 24 Rivers)		Western Cape
Waterval River		Mpumalanga
White Kei River		Eastern Cape	North of Queenstown	Great Kei River
Wilge River	C8	Free State
Wilge River		Mpumalanga
Wit River		Eastern Cape
Wit River		Limpopo
Woes-Alleen River		Mpumalanga			Boschmanskop No 1 Dam
Wonderfonteinspruit
Xilinxa River		Eastern Cape			Xilinxa Dam
Xora River		Eastern Cape
Xuka River		Eastern Cape
Zandvlei		Western Cape
Zimbani River		Eastern Cape
Zinkwasi River		KwaZulu-Natal
Zotsha River		KwaZulu-Natal

• A ^{^} Drainage basin code assigned by the Department of Water Affairs (South Africa), a complete list is available at Drainage basins of South Africa

Gallery

• 
  Topographic map of South Africa.
• 
  Course and watershed of the Orange River with topography shading and political boundaries.
• 
  Grootrivier in Nature's Valley, stained a tea colour by plant tannins
• 
  Amanzimtoti River at Ilanda Wilds
• 
  Amanzimtoti River at Ilanda Wilds
• 
  Amanzimtoti Lagoon
• 
  Crocodile River (Limpopo)

See also

• List of reservoirs and dams in South Africa
• Water Management Areas
• Estuaries in South Africa
• List of lakes in South Africa
• Lagoons of South Africa
• List of Bays of South Africa
• Drainage basins of South Africa

References

1. Meiring, Barbara. "South African Toponymic Guidelines for Map and other editors: Fourth Edition"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, 12. Retrieved on 30 April 2013.
2. "Maitland River Mouth". Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism. Retrieved 26 June 2019.

• Dep. of Water Affairs; Republic of South Africa

External links

• Hydrology
• Map where one can zoom into a drainage system
• GIS data and map of all rivers of South Africa
• FROC - Reference frequency of occurrence of fish species in South Africa