Mafadi is a peak on the border of South Africa and Lesotho. At a height of , it is the highest mountain in the nation of South Africa, but is lower than
Thabana Ntlenyana, the highest peak in
Lesotho which is, at , the highest point in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
.
By the Himalayan definition of a mountain, being a summit with at least 7% topographic prominence relative to height, Mafadi is not in fact a mountain summit, but rather a subsidiary summit of Makheka in Lesotho.
By this definition, Champagne Castle is the highest mountain summit in South Africa, although Mafadi is unquestionably the highest point in South Africa.
Ascent
Hiking
Ascents of Mafadi, attempted from the South African side, are normally made from the
Njesuthi campsite. The
Njesuthi escarpment of the Drakensberg is one of the more remote hiking regions, and normally takes two days to reach the escarpment. The route involves about an hike to Marble Baths. This is followed by continuing up the river and with a combination of short paths and boulder hopping. This all ends at the bottom of the ridge, which leads to the Molar, with a campsite. The subsequent path up the ridge to the top of the mountains is known as Leslie's Pass. The path follows the ridge until below a rocky band where it traverses to southern side. The way continues up a short scree section, followed by more hiking up a quite steep gradient, until the final are made up a grassy slope. From here, the top of Leslie's Pass follows, and a spectacular hike up the ridge connecting Lithobolong and Mafadi.
A route referred to as the Corner-Leslies Loop is becoming a popular way of reaching Mafadi. It entails hiking to Centenary Hut in Injisuthi Nature Reserve on day 1, ascending Corner Pass and climbing Mafadi on day 2, descending Leslie's Pass to Marble Baths on day 3, and returning to the
Njesuthi campsite on day.
Running
On 8 October 2015, South African trail runners
Ryan Sandes
Ryan Nicholas Sandes "Hedgie" (born 10 March 1982 in Cape Town) is a South African trail runner. In 2010 he became the first competitor to have won all four of the 4 Deserts races, each a 6/7-day, self-supported footrace through the Atacama Des ...
an
Ryno Grieselset a Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the ascent of Mafadi via the Northern High Approach, an alternative, and slightly shorter but steeper route of the popular Corner's pass. They set a time of 5h 47.59 min, starting and ending at the
Njesuthi campsite, and covered a total of with approximately of elevation gain/loss.
The previous FKT was set in 2012 by fellow South African, Andrew Porter, with a time of 6 h 22 min from the Giant's Castle campsite via Judge pass.
Disputed name
The name of Mafadi (which literally means the Mother of Fadi) is currently under dispute, its original Sotho name Ntheledi (which means "Makes me slip", referring to the nearby stream) being considered by some to be more relevant and correct.
See also
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List of mountains in South Africa
List of Mountains in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini is a general list of mountains in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini with elevation. This list includes mountains in two other sovereign states, in the Stormberg-Drakensberg range, where t ...
References
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External links
{{External links, date=August 2020
Mafadi, South Africa/LesothoGuided Ascents of Mafadi
Drakensberg
Highest points of countries
International mountains of Africa
Lesotho–South Africa border
Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal
Mountains of Lesotho