The Maputo River (), also called Great Usutu River, Lusutfu River, or Suthu River, is a river in
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 ...
,
Eswatini
Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, and
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 ...
. The name ''Suthu'' refers to
Basotho
The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...
people who lived near the source of the river, but were attacked and displaced by the
Swazis. It is also said to mean 'dark brown', a description of the river's muddy water.
Course
The river rises near
Amsterdam, Mpumalanga, South Africa, and flows easterly through Eswatini, where it enters 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 ...
. The 13 km gorge forms the boundary between Eswatini and South Africa. For approximately twenty kilometres, it forms the border between South Africa (province of
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
) and Mozambique. There, in the
Ndumo Game Reserve, it absorbs its largest tributary, the
Pongola River
The Phongolo River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through oPhongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows nort ...
. It then meanders through the Mozambican coastal plain and empties into southern
Maputo Bay
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
, some 85 kilometres downstream.
In Eswatini, the river is called the Great Usutu or Lusutfu and flows through the towns of
Bhunya,
Luyengo,
Siphofaneni, and
Big Bend. The town of Big Bend is near a point in which the river
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
s abruptly. The Great Usutu is the largest river in Eswatini, it is the site of Eswatini's lowest point (21 m above sea level), and is known for whitewater rafting. No large towns have been able to form along its banks because of deep narrow valleys and dense forests. It is, however, home to some
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
s,
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s, and
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
s.
Tributaries
From the origin to its mouth, in order, tributaries are the:
Sihanahana,
Bonnie Brook,
Mpuluzi,
Buhlungu,
Umvenvane,
Lusushwana,
Sidvokodvo
Sidvokodvo is a town in central Eswatini, situated south of Manzini. It used to host Eswatini Railway's steam shed, but steam traction has long been abandoned in Eswatini. The station area is now completely fenced and used by carriage repair ind ...
, Mkhondvo,
Mhlamani,
Mzimneni,
Mzimphofu,
Mhlathuzane,
Mtsindzekwa,
Nyetane,
Funuane, and the Pongola Rivers.
Usuthu/Mhlatuze WMA 6
/ref>
Dams on this river
* Westoe Dam
* Lubovane Dam
See also
* List of rivers of South Africa
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"
Meiring, Barbara"South African Toponymic Guidelin ...
References
External links
Maputo River Basin - SADC Water Sector ICP Collaboration Portal
Rivers of Mozambique
Rivers of Eswatini
Geography of Maputo
Mozambique–South Africa border
Eswatini–South Africa border
International rivers of Africa
Border rivers
Rivers of Mpumalanga
Lowest points of countries
{{SouthAfrica-river-stub