The Jukskei River is one of the largest

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s in

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 ...

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 is the southernmost river in the

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

basin.

Course

The Jukskei begins in Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Its original spring was on the former Doornfontein farm, which measured at 18,000 liters per hour, but has since disappeared under subsequent urban development. Now the first surface expression of the Jukskei is in

Bertrams Bertrams was the second largest United Kingdom based wholesaler of books, owned since 2018 by Aurelius Investments. It has 200,000 titles available for same-day despatch and has access to over 13 million books in print. The group includes Bertram ...

at the intersection of Queen Street and Sports Avenue where it emerges from a storm drain. From there the river flows through Bezuidenhout Valley and Bruma. It then meanders in a northerly direction through

Bedfordview Bedfordview is an affluent suburb in western Ekurhuleni, sharing an administrative boundary with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Bedfordview has been part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipalit ...

and Edenvale before flowing through

Alexandra Township Alexandra, informally abbreviated to Alex, is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is located next to the wealthy suburb of Sandton. It is commonly known as ...

. It then turns northwest and flows through Modderfontein,

Buccleuch Buccleuch may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places Australia * Buccleuch County, an administrative division in New South Wales, Australia * Buccleuch, South Australia, a small locality and railway station * County of Buccleuch, an administrative division in ...

, Leeuwkop Prison,

Lone Hill Lone Hill is a suburb north of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region E. Lone Hill is in the Gauteng province and is a suburb in Sandton. Lone Hill is an upmarket area mostly composed of residential properties. It is named after ...

, Dainfern and Steyn City before joining the

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outside Lanseria.

Tributaries

The Jukskei River is joined by numerous streams along its course with its major tributaries being the Modderfontein Spruit,

Braamfontein Spruit The Braamfontein Spruit (from the Afrikaans for "spring of brambles") is the longest stream in Johannesburg, South Africa. It originates in Barnato Park High School, Braamfontein. It is covered and canalised near its source, but once the river run ...

and

Klein Jukskei River Klein may refer to: People *Klein (surname) * Klein (musician) Places *Klein (crater), a lunar feature * Klein, Montana, United States *Klein, Texas, United States * Klein (Ohm), a river of Hesse, Germany, tributary of the Ohm * Klein River, a r ...

. The Jukskei River provides the largest amount of water, by discharge, into the

Basin.

Character

The Jukskei is mostly shallow and not deep enough for transportation. It is also heavily

polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

urban runoff Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots and sidewalks) are constructed during land development. During rain , storms and other precipit ...

. Lack of infrastructure maintenance has let raw waste flow into the river on a daily basis.

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-causing bacteria have occasionally been found in the river. The river receives a large inflow from the Northern Waste Water Treatment Plant in northern

. The Jukskei River is one of the largest contributing factors of 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 facing

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 ...

further down stream. Tons of waste such as plastic, metal and rubber flow down the river annually. The banks are prone to bursting, especially in summer when rainfalls are the heaviest for the year regionally. This spells disaster for the impoverished residents of the

who often build makeshift shacks along the river banks owing to overcrowding and the need for access to water for washing, drinking, and cooking.

Cultural and sporting significance

The Jukskei traditionally demarcated the boundary between the ''Northern Transvaal'' and ''Transvaal'' for sporting purposes, and teams like the

Titans cricket team The Titans (known as the Multiply Titans for sponsorship reasons) are the northernmost top-level cricket franchise in South Africa. Its member unions are the Eastern Cricket Union and Northerns Cricket Union. The home venues of the Titans are ...

and

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(formerly ''Northern Transvaal'') continue to be headquartered in Pretoria, north of the Jukskei.

References

External links

Restoration

Revamping the Jukskei River

{{Authority control Geography of Johannesburg Crocodile River (Limpopo) Rivers of Gauteng