The Touws River () is a river in the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
province of
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 a tributary of the
Groot River, part of the
Gourits River
Gourits River (), sometimes spelled 'Gouritz River', is situated in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Gourits River flows from the confluence of the Gamka River and Olifants River and is joined by the Groot River, before flowing through the ...
basin.
Name
The name "Touws" originates from a
Khoi
Khoikhoi ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peop ...
word for ash, which also referred to the local "Ash-bushes" (''
Salsola aphylla''). It is uncertain whether the name originally referred to the bushes, or to the colour of the river (historically, the Touws river was occasionally known as the "Ash river").
It also gave its name to the town of
Touws River, which lies on the upper reaches of this river.
Course
It sources are in the
Matroosberg,
Hex River Mountains
The Hex River Mountains () make up the second highest mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa and are located north-east of Cape Town. They form part of a large anticline in the Cape Fold Belt mountain system and form a nort ...
, near the town of
De Doorns. In its upper course it is known as the Smalblaar and the .
Flowing in a southeastern direction, it flows past
Touws River town, meeting the right bank of the Groot River after briefly turning southwards.
Gouritz WMA 16
/ref> Its tributaries include the Brand, Kalee, Brak, Slang and the Kruis; all are minor rivers.
The Touws is part of the Gouritz Water Management Area and falls within the Drainage system J.
Dams
* Verkeerdevlei Dam (capacity )
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 ...
*List of drainage basins of South Africa
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
* Water Management Areas
References
External links
Bloutoring Farm, Touws River / Montagu area
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Western Cape