Tsitsa River

Tsitsa River
iTsitsa
River
Name origin: Tsitsa meaning 'to trickle' or 'to ooze' in the Xhosa language, referring to the rain and snow falling on the Drakensberg slopes[1]
Country South Africa
State Eastern Cape
Tributaries
 - right Pot River, Mooi River, Inxu River
Source Drakensberg
 - location SE of Rhodes
 - elevation 2,550 m (8,366 ft)
 - coordinates 30°58′S 28°3′E / 30.967°S 28.050°E / -30.967; 28.050
Mouth Mzimvubu River
 - location SE of Qumbu
 - elevation 183 m (600 ft)
 - coordinates 31°17′52″S 29°13′32″E / 31.29778°S 29.22556°E / -31.29778; 29.22556Coordinates: 31°17′52″S 29°13′32″E / 31.29778°S 29.22556°E / -31.29778; 29.22556
Location of the Tsitsa River mouth

The Tsitsa River (Afrikaans: Tsitsarivier; Xhosa: iTsitsa) is a river in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a tributary of the Mzimvubu River and belongs to the Mzimvubu to Keiskamma Water Management Area.

Course

The Tsitsa rises in the Drakensberg 15 km to the SE of Rhodes, about 80 km west of Mount Frere, and flows eastwards. The Tsitsa Falls are located in its upper course, amidst a mountainous area of great beauty. Bending and flowing southwards for a few miles, the river passes east of Maclear, before it bends eastwards again. Finally it empties into the Mzimvubu River while passing through deep river gorges about 36 km southeast of Qumbu.[2]

Its main tributaries are the Mooi River, Inxu River (Wildebeesrivier) and the Pot River.

The Tsitsa River used to form part of the western border of the former Transkei. Now the Tsitsa is a popular place for whitewater kayaking.[3]

Dams in the basin

There are only relatively small dams in the Tsitsa River basin. The Maclear Dam on the Inxu River supplies water to Maclear town and the Ugie Dam on the Mooi supplies water to Ugie town.[4]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.