Buffalo River (KwaZulu-Natal)

River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Buffalo River

Buffalo River at Rorke's Drift

Location of the Buffalo River's mouth

Native name| Mzinyathi (Zulu)
Location
Country| South Africa
State| KwaZulu-Natal
Physical characteristics
Source| Near Majuba Hill
• location| Drakensberg
Mouth|

• location

| Tugela River

• coordinates

| 28°42′59″S 30°38′30″E﻿ / ﻿28.716358°S 30.641768°E﻿ / -28.716358; 30.641768

• elevation

| 465 metres (1,526 ft)
Length| 426 km (265 mi)
Basin size| 13,000 km2 (5,000 sq mi)

The Buffalo River (Zulu: uMzinyathi; Afrikaans: Buffelsrivier) is the largest tributary of the Tugela River in South Africa. With a total length of 426 km (265 mi), its source is in Majuba Hill, "Hill of Doves" in the Zulu language, located northeast of Volksrust, close to the Mpumalanga / KwaZulu-Natal border. It follows a southerly route into KwaZulu-Natal past Newcastle then turns southeast past Rorke's Drift, before joining the Tugela River[1] at Ngubevu near Nkandla. During the nineteenth century it formed part of the boundary between the Colony of Natal and Zululand.

The Buffalo River has a number of tributaries, including the Ingagane from the SW and the Blood River from the NE, which it joins near Kandi Mountain.[2] Rorke's Drift is a ford across the Buffalo River which is one of the famous places of the 1878–79 Anglo-Zulu War and Isandhlwana is another important place of that war located about 20 km SE of the river, not far from the confluence with the Tugela.[citation needed]

## Tributaries

[edit]

* Batshe
* Bzangoma
* Blood River
* Cold Stream
* Doringspruit
* Dorpspruit
* Kweekspruit
* Mangeni River
* Imbabane River
* Mngeni River
* Mbizana River (Buffalo)
* Ndweni
* Ingagane
* Sandspruit
* Sibindi
* Slang River
* Teku River
* Wasbankspruit
* Womeni

## See also

[edit]

* List of rivers of South Africa
* Drainage basins of South Africa

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Thukela WMA 7
2. ^ The Geology of Vryheid

## External links

[edit]

* White Water Rafting in South Africa

This article related to a river in South Africa is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template