The Baakens River, also known as Gqeberha River (), is a river that empties at

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often 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 Municipality, Sou ...

's city center and harbor in Algoa Bay. Bakensriviersa Geonames.org (cc-by) post updated 18 January 2012; database download sa 28 February 2017 The river flows for about from its catchment area at Sherwood, Hunter's Retreat, and Rowallan Park through mainly urban area to its mouth. Mostly, it is a small quiet stream. Near its mouth, it runs into a gorge on the south side of the hill on which Fort Frederick lies. Until the first

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...

ships docked here in 1690, the creek was known by the

Khoekhoe Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

name , the rocky creek. In 1752, ensign

August Frederik Beutler August Frederik Beutler (c. 1728 in Dinkelsbühl – ? in Cape Town) was an ensign ( sergeant 1747–49, ensign 1749–54) in the employ of the Dutch East India Company who headed an epic 1752 reconnaissance expedition lasting 8 months ...

passed by and erected a

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

on behalf of the VOC at the estuary. In time, the last of the stream was canalized and the small lagoon filled up. Parks, sports grounds and hiking trails have been laid out in parts of the Baakens Valley. The 54 ha Settler Park has existed since 1938. The valley was in the years 1867, 1897, 1908, 1968, 1981 and 2006 the scene of severe

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s, floods and great damage. On 5 May 1897, the cause was a cloudburst at Hunter's Retreat. On Sunday 1 September 1968, it started to rain just after 8am and within a short time more than 56 cm fell. In the most devastating flood that South Africa had experienced until then, 8 people lost their lives. is the name for this river in

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

. The neighborhood Kabega Park may have been named after this river.

References

{{reflist Rivers of the Eastern Cape

See also

References