The Letaba River (), also known as Leţaba, Lehlaba or Ritavi, is a river located in eastern
Limpopo Province
Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. It is one of the most important tributaries of the
Olifants River.
Course
It starts at the confluence of the
Groot Letaba River and
Klein Letaba River, whence they continue their journey eastwards through the
Lowveld
Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, ...
as the Letaba River. It joins the
Olifants River in the foothills of the
Lebombo Mountains
The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, Rivombo Mountains (), are an , narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa ...
, near South Africa's border with
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
. In Mozambique, the latter river is called the
Rio Elefantes.
Tributaries include the
Middle Letaba River,
Nharhweni River,
Ngwenyeni River,
Nwanedzi River,
Molototsi River,
Nsama River, and
Makhadzi River.
Dams in the basin
*
Ebenezer Dam
*
Tzaneen Dam
*
Modjaji Dam, in the Molototsi River
*
Hudson Ntsanwisi Dam, in the Nsama River
*
Middle Letaba Dam, in the Middle Letaba River
*
Engelhard Dam
none, 450px, Game animals along its banks, near Letaba camp, central Kruger Park
See also
*
Luvubu and Letaba Water Management Area
References
Olifants River (Limpopo)
Rivers of Limpopo
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