The Maputo River (Portuguese ''Rio Maputo''), also called Great Usutu River, Lusutfu River, or Suthu River, is a river in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
, and
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mal ...
. The name ''Suthu'' refers to
Basotho
The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu people, Bantu nation native to Lesotho, southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in t ...
people who lived near the source of the river, but were attacked and displaced by
Swazis. It is also said to mean 'dark brown', a description of the river's muddy water.
Course
The river rises near
Amsterdam, Mpumalanga, South Africa, and flows easterly through Eswatini, where it enters the
Lebombo Mountains
The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains ( pt, Montes Libombos), are an , narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in ...
. The 13 km gorge forms the boundary between Eswatini and South Africa. For approximately twenty kilometres, it forms the border between South Africa (province of
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 locat ...
) and Mozambique. There, in the
Ndumo Game Reserve, it absorbs its largest tributary, the
Pongola River
The Phongolo River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through Pongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows nort ...
. It then meanders through the Mozambican coastal plain and empties into southern
Maputo Bay
Maputo Bay ( pt, Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from ''Baía da Lagoa'' in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90&n ...
, some 85 kilometres downstream.
In Eswatini, the river is called the Great Usutu or Lusutfu and flows through the towns of
Bhunya,
Luyengo,
Siphofaneni Siphofaneni is a town in the Lubombo Region of central Eswatini (Swaziland), 45 kilometres from Manzini and 20 kilometres from Big Bend, a major sugarcane-producing town on the main highway leading to Durban. It has a tropical climate, very hot d ...
, and
Big Bend. The town of Big Bend is near a point in which the river
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 ...
s abruptly. The Great Usutu is the largest river in Eswatini, it is the site of Eswatini's lowest point (21 m above sea level), and is known for whitewater rafting. No large towns have been able to form along its banks because of deep narrow valleys and dense forests. It is, however, home to some
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". T ...
s,
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s, and
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s.
Tributaries
From the origin to its mouth, in order, tributaries are the:
Seganagana,
Bonnie Brook,
Mpuluzi,
Buhlungu,
Umvenvane,
Lusushwana,
Sidvokodvo, Mkhondvo,
Mhlamani,
Mzimneni,
Mzimphofu,
Mhlathuzane,
Mtsindzekwa,
Nyetane,
Funuane, and the Pongola Rivers.
Usuthu/Mhlatuze WMA 6
/ref>
Dams on this river
* Westoe Dam
* Lubovane Dam
See also
* List of rivers of South Africa
This is a list of rivers in South Africa.
It is quite common to find the Afrikaans word ''-rivier'' as part of the name. Another common suffix is "''-kamma''", from the Khoisan term for "river"
Meiring, Barbara"South African Toponymic Guideline ...
References
External links
Maputo River Basin - SADC Water Sector ICP Collaboration Portal
Rivers of Mozambique
Rivers of Eswatini
Geography of Maputo
Mozambique–South Africa border
Eswatini–South Africa border
International rivers of Africa
Border rivers
Rivers of Mpumalanga
{{SouthAfrica-river-stub