The Hennops River is one of the larger rivers that drains

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

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 ...

. It has its source near Kempton Park, east of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

and meets the

Crocodile River (Limpopo) , native_name_lang = , name_other = , name_etymology = , image = Krokodilrivier, a, Phalandingwe.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Crocodile River at Pelindaba, North West , map ...

shortly before

Hartbeespoort Dam Hartbeespoort Dam (also known as ''Harties'') is an arch type dam situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It lies in a valley to the south of the Magaliesberg mountain range and north of the Witwatersberg mountain range, about 35 kil ...

. It is one of

's most polluted rivers.

Course

The Hennops River starts in

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area. Location and transport Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...

, Kempton Park, and flows in a northerly direction towards

Tembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa (Dindela), is a large township situated to the north of Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandra and other areas in Edenvale, Kem ...

township. It then flows past

Olifantsfontein Olifantsfontein, also known as Clayville, is a small town on the East Rand in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is located at the north-western corner of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, just north of the Thembisa township. ...

and meets the Sesmyl Spruit which flows out of the

Rietvlei Dam The Rietvlei dam is an earth-fill type dam and is one of a number of dams supplying water to the Pretoria region of South Africa. It supplies around 41 million liters of drinking water daily, about 5.9% of the water requirement of Pretoria. The ...

. The river then turns north-west flowing through the centre of

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

. The river continues in this direction flowing through the foothills of the

Magaliesberg The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pil ...

before flowing into the

on its right bank near the

Dams

The

, which provides water to

City of Tshwane The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

, as well as numerous farm dams are situated in the Hennops River Basin. Lake Centurion as well as numerous weirs are situated on the river.

Pollution

The Hennops River is one of

's heavily polluted rivers. Insufficient and poorly-maintained sanitation facilities in

Ivory Park Ivory Park is a densely populated residential suburb of Midrand in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is located in Region A of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, City of Johannesburg. Ivory Park is occupied by more than 18 ...

and

Erasmia Erasmia is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Centurion in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Originally a whites-only area under apartheid, increasing numbers of Indians from neighbouring Laudium moved in, following the aboliti ...

have turned the river into an open sewer.

AfriForum AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nation ...

gathered water samples from the Hennops River and according to the results‚ more than 1 000 000 units of the indicator microbe ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...

'' were present per 100 ml of water. The health risk is high for people coming into full or partial contact with water having more than 2000 colony forming units per 100 ml. Untreated or partially treated sewage also contains high concentrations of phosphate and nitrate, which contribute to the

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

problems in

. In 2020 the FRESH

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

installed litter traps at Clayville township in

, and locals were employed to remove the waste which soon accumulated.

Tourist attractions

The valley of the river is a weekend and holiday destination for residents of the nearby cities. The banks of the Hennops are a popular location for

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, fishing,

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, and

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

king. It is crossed by two small

suspension bridges A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

, one at Centurion Mall, and the other at Hennops Prid

There are also

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

s and a 4x4 trail.Hennops 4x4 trail
/ref>

References

External links