The Riet River is a westward-flowing
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...
in central
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 ...
. In precolonial times the Riet was known as the Gama-!ab (or Gmaap), a name meaning 'muddy'. Its main tributary is the
Modder River and after the confluence the Riet River flows westwards to meet the Vaal.
The Riet flows about 300 km from the vicinity of the eastern
Free State town of
Smithfield and has a confluence with the Vaal River upstream from the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
town of
Douglas.
[Morris, D. 2002. Driekopseiland and 'the rain's magic power': landscape and history in a new interpretation of a Northern Cape rock engraving site. MA dissertation, Dept Anthropology and Sociology, University of the Western Cape] It flows through the
Kalkfontein Dam.
Water from the Orange River at Vanderkloof Dam is fed into the Riet River at Jacobsdal to provide water for irrigation. This has the combined effect of adding water to the river and lowering the salinity. When Vanderkloof Dam is spilling excess water from Vanderkloof Dam is transferred to the Kalkfontein Dam.
See also
*
List of rivers in South Africa
*
Siege of Kimberley
The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, Transvaal besieged the diam ...
*
Battle of Paardeberg
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Ford (crossing), Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free St ...
References
External links
A Riet River Retrospective
Tributaries of the Orange River
Karoo
Rivers of the Northern Cape
Rivers of the Free State (province)
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