The Umgeni River or Mgeni River () is a river in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. It is generally agreed its name means "the river of entrance" in Zulu, though other meanings have been suggested. The river is approximately long with a catchment area of . The Howick Falls are some famous waterfalls on the Mngeni.

Tributaries

A noteworthy tributary is the Msunduzi River, which joins it between Nagle and Inanda dams. Higher up its course, the Msunduzi (or 'Dusi' for short) passes through the KwaZulu-Natal capital Pietermaritzburg. A famous downriver race, the Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place between the capital and Durban, attracting thousands of canoeists for the three-day event held every year January. A small tributary that has an impact exceeding its size and length is the Lions River which joins the Umgeni about 4 kilometers upstream of Midmar Dam (near Lidgetton). Its significance lies in the fact that it is a part of a water transfer scheme between the Mooi River (Spring Grove Dam) and the Umgeni. A smaller tributary close to its mouth is the Palmiet River, which should not be confused with the Palmiet River in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

Dams

Presently the Umgeni is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. There are four large dams in its catchment basin: * Albert Falls Dam * Inanda Dam * Midmar Dam * Nagle Dam

Ecology

The Scaly Yellowfish (''Labeobarbus natalensis'') is a fish found in the Umgeni River System as well as in the Umzimkhulu, Thukela, Umkhomazi and the Umfolozi. It is a common

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Zulu language, Zulu: uKhahlamba, Sotho language, Sotho: Maloti, Afrikaans: Drakensberge) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, Southern Africa, Great Escarpment, which encloses the central South Africa#Geography, Sout ...

foothills and the coastal lowlands.

History

It is assumed that

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

replenished his fleet's water supply at the Umgeni mouth on Christmas Day, 1497, and so named the region Natal, Portuguese for Christmas. The river then acquired the name "River of Natal". 130 years later the Umgeni was crossed by Nathaniel Isaacs on his way to visit

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

. At some point before October 1825, settlers and natives led by Francis Farewell began construction of Fort Farewell between the uMngeni River and Port Natal.

References

External links