The Black Umfolozi River ( zu, Imfolozi emnyama) is one of the two main tributaries to the

Umfolozi River The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black (''Imfolozi emnyama'') and White Umfolozi (''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeaste ...

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locat ...

, South Africa. It forms part of the Upper Umfolozi (Zulu: Enhla neMfolozi) – the Lower Umfolozi being the area downstream of its confluence with the

White Umfolozi The White Umfolozi River originates just west of Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and has a confluence with the Black Umfolozi River at to form the Umfolozi River, which flows eastward towards the Indian Ocean. See also * List of rivers o ...

Etymology

The river is called "black" because of the dark (black) stones which are found along its course. Imfolozi means "zig-zag", which reflects the pattern the river follows along its course.

Course

It flows through Swart-Mfolozi,

Ceza Bilgin Özçalkan (; born 31 December 1976), also known by his stage name Ceza (, Turkish for 'punishment'), is a Turkish rapper and songwriter. Early works In 1995, Özçalkan started a group called U.C.S and performed with this group until ...

Nongoma Nongoma is a town in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the seat of the Nongoma Local Municipality. It is situated 300 km north of Durban and 56 km from Ulundi; it is surrounded by the Ngome Forest. It is a busy market town ...

and eventually has a confluence with the

near the southeastern boundary of Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve to form the

. The Thangami Safari Spa is also situated on its banks.

Empangeni Empangeni is a city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs east ...

and

Mtubatuba Mtubatuba is a town north of Richards Bay close to the entrance of Ncivi and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) but now the isimangaliso wetland park is known to be under Mtuba town in KwaZulu-Natal, South ...

are two major areas related to the Lower Umfolozi region.

History

Zwide, chief of king of the very powerful

Ndwandwe The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. The Ndwandwe, with the Mthethwa, were a significant power in present-day Zululand at the turn of the nineteenth century. Under the leadership of King Zwi ...

tribe had his own domain north and east of the Black Umfolozi River. {{-

Gallery

image:Umfolozi river with a dense growth of Arundo donax on the banks, AJTJ DSCN0998.jpg, Flowing, flanked by

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

and

common reed ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

image:Black Umfolozi water.jpg, Collecting water from the sand

References

Rivers of KwaZulu-Natal