The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in

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 locate ...

, a province of

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 formed by the confluence of the

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

(''Imfolozi emnyama'') and

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 ...

(''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeastern boundary of the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. The

isiZulu Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...

name ''imFolozi'' is generally considered to describe the

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

course followed by both tributaries, though other explanations have been given. The river flows in an easterly direction to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

at Maphelana, a coastal resort just south of the St Lucia River mouth. It originally meandered over the Monzi Flats, where it split into numerous slow-flowing channels before entering the St. Lucia

Estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

at Honeymoon Bend. The slow-moving water and reed beds in channels operated as a natural filtering system that removed

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

from the Umfolozi floodwaters and created a rich habitat for numerous species.

Ecology

During the 1950s, the Umfolozi Landowners Association contained and artificially channeled the river through the Monzi Flats to develop

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

farms. The new Umfolozi canal resulted in the unfiltered water depositing its silt load after entering the slower moving St. Lucia Estuary. This caused the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

mouth to rapidly silt up. There had only been one record of this occurring until that time, during the sustained drought during the 1930s. At the

Black Umfolozi River The Black Umfolozi River ( zu, Imfolozi emnyama) is one of the two main tributaries to the Umfolozi River in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. It forms part of the Upper Umfolozi (Zulu: Enhla neMfolozi) – the Lower Umfolozi being the area downstream ...

and the

White Umfolozi River 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 ...

, join to form the Umfolozi.

Characteristics

It is a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

ing river, with a catchment area of 11,068 km³. Near, its mouth it is 38 metre wide, with a slope gradient of 0.36 metre per kilometre. The average diameter of the bed material is 0.35 mm (

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

Sediment problems

The river transports carries annually 1.4 million tonnes of

suspended sediment The suspended load of a flow of fluid, such as a river, is the portion of its sediment uplifted by the fluid's flow in the process of sediment transportation. It is kept suspended by the fluid's turbulence. The suspended load generally consists of ...

to the ocean. The government started a costly

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

operation in the

mouth area, but it proved ineffective. After years of dredging, the next plan was to prevent the Umfolozi River from entering the

St Lucia estuary ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. The Umfolozi River was

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

ized straight out to sea at Maphelana. The impact of this decision continues; the silt plume from the river is often blown by strong south winds as far north as

Sodwana Bay Sodwana Bay is a bay in South Africa on the KwaZulu Natal north coast, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. It is in the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the Maputaland Marine Reserve, and is a popular recreational diving destination. The term is ...

, 100 km away. The changes threaten the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s, which provide fish habitat and protect the shore. In addition, it jeopardizes the associated good snorkeling available at Cape Vidal, part of

iSimangaliso Wetland Park iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously known as the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) is situated on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 235 kilometres north of Durban by road. It is South Africa's third-largest protected area, ...

, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Fish

The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is a fish found in the Umfolozi River System as well as in the

Umzimkulu Umzimkhulu is a town in Harry Gwala District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The town lies 243 km north-east of Mthatha and 18 km south-west of Ixopo. It developed from a trading-post and was laid out in 1 ...

, Umkomazi, Tugela and the Mgeni. It is a common

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within th ...

foothills and the coastal lowlands.

Aerial photos

image:StLuciaWetland L7 07may01.jpg, The Mfolozi Rivers are seen converging on the

image:St Lucia Estuary ISS006-E-38182.jpg, The old and new courses near the mouth, with the Msunduzi converging from the left (i.e. south), enclosing a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

. Also mote the silt plume at sea.

References

{{reflist

External links

A map of Major South African Rivers
Rivers of KwaZulu-Natal