The Vaal River - South Africa's water workhorse

Abstract

The Vaal River (named after its naturally dull brown-grey colour) is the second-largest river in South Africa, after the Orange River, into which it flows. The 1 200 km-long river crosses a number of provinces, namely Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape. The Vaal River starts in the eastern Highveld plains, in the vicinity of Ermelo, in Mpumalanga. The river then flows westward on a long course, without rapids or waterfalls, broadening into a large river. While it is a major river it is still a tributary as it does not reach the sea, but instead joins the Orange River at Douglas, in the Northern Cape. The Vaal River might not be large by international standards (it is about the 129th largest river in the world) it is large by South African standards. Yet it does not run constantly, which means that in winter it has much less water than it has in the rainy season. For this reason large dams have had to be constructed on the river to ensure a steady water supply to all those people and industries dependent on water from the river.

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