The Makhaleng River is a river of western

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

. It rises in the

Maloti Mountains The Maloti Mountains are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the South African Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large areas ...

, flows generally in a southwesterly direction to join 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 ...

at the border with Free State in South Africa.

Course

The river originates northwest of the high Machache in the

Maluti Mountains The Maloti Mountains are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the South African Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large area ...

. It flows southwest across the

Lesotho Highlands The Lesotho Highlands are formed by the Drakensberg and Maloti mountain ranges in the east and central parts of the country of Lesotho. Foothills form a divide between the lowlands and the highlands. Snow is common in the highlands in the winter ...

past the towns and villages of Molimo-Nthuse,

Makhaleng Makhaleng is a constituency located in the Maseru District Maseru is a district of Lesotho. Maseru is also the name of the district's capital, and is the only city in the district and also the capital of the country. It is the largest urban ar ...

, Ramabanta and

Qaba ''Qaba'' ( fa, قبا‎ ''qabā'') is a long coat with sleeves and buttons, similar to a cassock, open at the front. A qaba is similar to a wadded coat. It is considered as a piece of clothing of Turkic origin. The Mughal emperors wore ankle-len ...

, flowing into the

at the international border by the Free State near the ''Makhaleng Bridge''. The valley of the river forms part of the approach to several mountain passes, notably the

God Help Me Pass The God Help Me Pass, or ''Lekhalong-la-Molimo-Nthuse'' in seSotho, is a mountain pass at an elevation of in western Lesotho. It is the second mountain pass on the A3 highway (Lesotho), A3 road going into the central highlands. The road ascends ste ...

and the Gates of Paradise Pass. The ''Qiloane Falls'' are a tourist attraction located in the upper course of the river. They are about high but are more known for their width, as the water flows across the rocks in a "bridal veil".Tourist Website of Lesotho
In Lesotho this river in its upper parts does not have a flood plain. The flow is swift and the river rises rapidly after heavy rainfall in the mountains and during the spring thaw. The catchment area is about and the average flow is about per second. There are no large reservoirs on the river, but there are a number of small and medium-sized ones constructed for soil conservation and for water collection purposes. These are liable to silt up and a few have washed away.

Tributaries

The Makhaleng has three main tributaries the Makhalaneng, the Qhoqhoane and the Khibiting. All of them flow into it from the right bank as they drain the water off the Maluti Mountains.

References

{{coord, 30.3253, S, 27.3764, E, source:wikidata, display=title Rivers of Lesotho Tributaries of the Orange River Lesotho–South Africa border International rivers of Africa