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 ...

s in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, 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#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

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 coun ...

. It is the southernmost river in the Crocodile River (West) 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 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 and Edenvale before flowing through Alexandra Township. It then turns northwest and flows through Modderfontein, Buccleuch, Leeuwkop Prison, Lone Hill, Dainfern and Steyn City before joining the

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

outside Lanseria.

Tributaries

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

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 precip ...

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

Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

-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 phyt ...

problems facing Hartbeespoort Dam 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 Alexandra Township 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 Blue Bulls (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