The Harts River ( af, Hartsrivier) is a northern
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage ...
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 Ocean. ...
, which in turn is the largest tributary of the
Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/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 Namibia to the north ...
(also known as the
Gariep River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/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 Namibia to the north ...
, the largest river in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
). Its source is in the
North West Province
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
History
North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...
, but the greater part of its basin is located in the
Northern Cape Province
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...
, which it enters a few kilometers downstream from the
Taung Dam.
The Harts forms a natural boundary for the
Ghaap Plateau, located between the Harts River and the
Kuruman Hills.
Course
It rises near
Lichtenburg on the far southwestern slopes of the
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...
and flows for 320 km (about 200 miles) in a southwesterly direction, mostly through very flat areas of the North West and Northern Cape Provinces before flowing into the Vaal River about 100 km above the confluence of that river with the Orange River.
The
Little Harts River which rises near
Coligny joins the
Great Harts River, which rises near Lichtenburg, to form the main river. Near Taung, the
Dry Harts River, a seasonal river with its headwaters in the
Vryburg
Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,400 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial ...
area, also joins it. The river is characterised by highly intermittent runoff, but is regulated to optimise water usage. At
Taung
Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means ''place of the lion'' and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong. ''Tau'' is the Tswana word for lion.
Education
High,Secondary and Middle Schools ...
the
Tswana
Tswana may refer to:
* Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions
* Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people
* Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...
referred to the Harts River as the Noka (meaning River) Kolong.
Further downstream, the town of
Schweizer-Reneke (founded in October 1888) lies on the banks of the river.
Wenzel Dam, just north of the town on the river, has been developed into a holiday resort.
Around 1850, a dam was built in the river next to
Dikgatlong, but it was washed away during a flood in 1856.
Near the confluence of the Harts and Vaal Rivers at
Delportshoop a major irrigation system, the
Vaal-Harts Scheme was set up in 1933 as part of the national reconstruction effort after the
Depression. Here water drawn from both the Vaal and the Harts rivers provide water to intensively irrigate numerous
smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
s through a system of canals in an otherwise dry area of the country, supporting towns such as
Jan Kempdorp
Jan Kempdorp is an agricultural town situated in the centre of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated north of Kimberley, the provincial capital, and west of Christiana in North West prov ...
and
Hartswater.
Around the northern part of the Scheme lie the settlements of
Pampierstad
Pampierstad is a town in Frances Baard District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
The town lies in the northern part of the Vaalharts irrigation scheme and 14 km from Hartswater. Residents mainly speak Tswana
Tswa ...
,
Motsweding,
Mokgareng,
Manthestad and
Taung
Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means ''place of the lion'' and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong. ''Tau'' is the Tswana word for lion.
Education
High,Secondary and Middle Schools ...
, all with mostly
Tswana
Tswana may refer to:
* Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions
* Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people
* Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...
speaking residents. Taung became famous after the discovery of the skull of the so-called
Taung Child
The Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young ''Australopithecus africanus''. It was discovered in 1924 by quarrymen working for the Northern Lime Company in Taung, South Africa. Raymond Dart described it as a new species ...
in a lime quarry 14 km west of the town. The quarry is not in use anymore and is now the
Taung Heritage Site and open to the public. To the west of the town, the
Taung Dam was built in the Harts River. Upstream of the dam some rock engravings can be seen.
History
On 31 March 1902, during the final months of the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
, the
Battle of Harts River
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
, also known as "Battle of Boschbult", was fought between the
Boers
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...
and the
British forces
The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
near the confluence of the Harts River and the
Brak Spruit, one of its dry tributaries. The battle was a British defeat and was also the second bloodiest day of that war for the
Canadian forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
, who fought on the British side.
Mining
Alluvial diamond mining still occurs in ancient river beds within the Harts River catchment area. The Newlands Mine is located some 60 km northwest of
Kimberley on the river. It is currently being mined at a rate of 3000 tonnes per month by the company
Dwyka Diamonds Limited.
Noble Minerals, in cooperation with the local
Ba-Ga-Maidi tribe has set up an operation to exploit the alluvial diamonds within 20 square kilometres of diamantiferous gravels of the river system, near Taung.
Protected areas
Most of the fish found in the Harts River are
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
, except in the area of
Barberspan, where indigenous species can be found. It was declared a nature reserve in 1949.
Near the towns of
Sannieshof
Sannieshof is a small farming town situated in North West Province of South Africa. It started as a post office to serve the farms in the district and was named in honour of the first postmaster, John Voorendijk's wife Sannie. The village is 40&nb ...
and
Delareyville
Delareyville is a maize- and peanut-farming town situated in North West Province of South Africa. The town is 96 km south-west of Lichtenburg, 82 km north-east of Vryburg, 114 km north-west of Wolmaransstad, and 61 km north of ...
, the river is connected to Barberspan (26°35' S 25°35' E), which lies partially inside the
Barberspan Nature Reserve and is a
Ramsar wetland site
This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scienti ...
. The
pan is 11 km long and 3.5 km wide, and it is named either after
Frederick Hugh Barber FRGS, who hunted along the Harts River in 1875, or after the
barbel Barbel may refer to:
*Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles
*Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish
**''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...
(''baber'' in the
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
language), a species of catfish found in South African rivers.
Dictionary of Southern African Place Names
/ref>
In 1913, Jan Christiaan Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of South Africa, prime m ...
, who owned a farm near the southern end of the pan, provided the labour and his foreman, Mr M. S. Basson, supervised the digging of a channel which diverted water from the Harts River into the pan, which lies about 9 m lower than the river. The area is so flat that the Harts River now pushes enough water into Barberspan during the rainy season to last through the dry winter months, where previously the pan used to dry up during the dry season. This was ecologically important, since the pan now became a large perennial water body in an area of otherwise seasonal pans and vlei
A vlei () is a shallow minor lake, mostly of a seasonal or intermittent nature. It even might refer to seasonal ponds or marshy patches where frogs and similar marsh dwellers breed. Commonly, vleis vary in their extent, or even in the presence ...
s. It became an oasis for bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s (especially water fowl
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating ...
) which use it for feeding, drinking, roosting, moulting and breeding. Up to 20,000 birds of more than 320 species can be seen at the Barberspan Bird Sanctuary, making it a popular birding spot, probably the finest in South Africa. Seven endangered bird species and two endangered mammal species occur here. Barberspan also supports a rich plankton community. (Ramsar, 1994).
Barberspan is also the venue for off-road vehicle rallies, like the Barberspan 500.
There is a hotel, self-catering accommodation and camping facilities on the site.
See also
* Department of Water Affairs (South Africa)
* 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 Guideline ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
North West Parks & Tourism Board Honorary Officer Association Photo Album
South African Birding - Birding Spots - Barbers Pan and environs
Vaal River
Rivers of the Northern Cape
Rivers of North West (South African province)