The !Khukaǁgamma or Sundays River () is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

of South Africa. It is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Inqua Khoi people, who historically were the wealthiest group in Southern Africa, originally named this river because the river's banks are always green and grassy despite the arid terrain that it runs through. Presently this river is part of the Fish to Tsitsikamma Water Management Area.

Course

The source of the long Sundays River is in the

Sneeuberge The Sneeuberge or Sneeuberg mountain range was historically known as “Sneeuwbergen”, meaning ‘snow mountains’ in Cape Dutch, and refers to a significant portion of Southern Africa's Great Escarpment in the Cradock, Murraysburg, Rich ...

(the highest mountain range in the former

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

) near

Nieu-Bethesda Nieu-Bethesda (Afrikaans for ''New Bethesda'') is a village in the Eastern Cape at the foot of the Sneeuberge, approximately north of Graaff Reinet. It was founded in 1875 as a church town, like many other Karoo villages, and attained municipal ...

. The river then flows in a general South/Southeasterly direction, passing the town

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

in the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

before winding its way through the

Zuurberg Mountains The Suurberg (also Zuurberg or Suurberge) is a mountain range near the Addo Elephant National Park in the southern Sarah Baartman District Municipality of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The range of some 70 kilometres long (west to east) is ...

and then past Kirkwood and Addo in the fertile Sundays River Valley. It empties into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located on the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour ...

after flowing through the village of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, 40 km east of the city of

Gqeberha Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipa ...

. ;Dams *

Darlington Dam Darlington Dam, also referred to as Lake Mentz, is a gravity type dam situated in the Addo Elephant National Park confining the Sundays River, near Kirkwood, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. History The primary objective of building the dam w ...

in the

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi T ...

Nqweba Dam Nqweba Dam (previously known as Van Ryneveld's Pass Dam), is an earth-fill type dam located on the Sundays River in the Camdeboo National Park, in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was opened in 1925. The dam has a capacity of , an ...

in the

Camdeboo National Park The Camdeboo National Park is located in the Karoo and almost completely surrounds the Eastern Cape town of Graaff-Reinet. It contains the Nqweba Dam. The park is located on the southern foothills of the Sneeuberge, Sneeuberg Mountain ranges ...

Fish-Sundays River Canal Scheme

The Fish River-Sundays River Canal Scheme consists of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

and

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

system which supplies water from the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

to the

Great Fish River The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) () is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River mouth is known as ...

Valley and subsequently to the Sundays River Valley in order to supplement the existing water supply of the Eastern Cape. Since 1992 the water from the Sundays River Valley has been supplied to Gqeberha.Department of Water - Fish-Sundays
/ref>

References

Rivers of the Eastern Cape {{SouthAfrica-river-stub

Course

Fish-Sundays River Canal Scheme

See also

References