49-622: Bloemhof is an agricultural town of about 2,000 inhabitants situated on the banks of the Vaal River in North West Province of South Africa . It was founded in August 1864 when diamonds were discovered in the area. The town was established on the farm owned by John Barclay , who survived the shipwreck of HMS Birkenhead in 1852. Like Bloemfontein, the place is named after Jan Bloem II (also known as Blumtseb or !Xāskx'aob) who
98-557: A considerable amount of this section is also used for mining and industries, irrigation and power generation. The river regularly experiences pollution of its upper reaches, and this affects users downstream. During 2019 the Lekwa Local Municipality 's main water treatment plant in Standerton was in disrepair and was causing chronic pollution problems. To assist users downstream, clean water had to be pumped into
147-514: A desire for political independence. In 1853, the Cape Colony became a British Crown colony with representative government. In 1854, the Cape of Good Hope elected its first parliament , on the basis of the multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise . Cape residents qualified as voters based on a universal minimum level of property ownership, regardless of race. Executive power remaining completely in
196-582: A three-phase construction that would augment water from Lesotho into the Vaal River, including four major dams. From 1954, the Natural Resources Development Council proposed that South Africa receive some water from neighbouring Lesotho . Negotiations between the two countries started in the late 1970s. A treaty for the development of the scheme was signed on 24 October 1987 by representatives of Lesotho, South Africa,
245-852: Is drawn from the Vaal to meet the industrial needs of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area and a large part of the Free State. In 1881 the Kimberley Waterworks Company, provided water from the Vaal to the Cape Diamond Fields at a cost of one shilling per 100 imperial gallons (450 L; 120 US gal). As a part of the Vaal-Hartz Scheme it is a major source of water for irrigation. Water drawn from
294-603: Is situated in this town. Vaal River The Vaal River ( / ˈ v ɑː l / Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈfɑːl] ; Khoemana : ǀHaiǃarib ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa . The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Ermelo and only about 240 kilometres (150 mi) from
343-628: The 1820 Settlers . They also began to introduce the first rudimentary rights for the Cape's Black African population and, in 1834, abolished slavery ; however, the government proved unable to rein in settler violence against the San, which continued largely unabated as it had during the Dutch period. The resentment that the Boers felt against this social change, as well as the imposition of English language and culture , caused them to trek inland en masse. This
392-774: The Braamfontein Water Company's Vierfontein Syndicate of 1893 and the Sivewright Concession of 1887 by the Johannesburg Waterworks and Exploration Company. Water was expensive and largely inaccessible for most inhabitants. The Rand Water Board was established in 1903 to take over the operations of the private sector with a mandate to investigate sustainable water supply and sanitation services. The organisation would become fully operational in 1905, supplying water in bulk to
441-672: The Cape , now nominally controlled by the Batavian Republic , was occupied again by the British after their victory in the Battle of Blaauwberg . The temporary peace between the UK and Napoleonic France had crumbled into open hostilities, whilst Napoleon had been strengthening his influence on the Batavian Republic (which Napoleon would subsequently abolish and directly administer later
490-621: The Cape of Good Hope , was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope . It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa , then became the Cape Province , which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961–94). The British colony
539-521: The Edict of Fontainebleau . This so-called "Huguenot experiment" was deemed a failure by the colonial authorities a decade later, as many of the Huguenot arrivals had little experience with agriculture and had become a net burden on the colonial government. There was a degree of cultural assimilation due to Dutch cultural hegemony that included the almost universal adoption of the Dutch language. Many of
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#1732791688988588-563: The European Union , United Nations and the World Bank . It was then estimated to cost R9.1 billion for the first phase of the project alone. South Africa pays R150 million to Lesotho each year whether they use all of the water that is supplied or not. According to Hogan the headwaters portion of the basin supports high endemism in reptiles, and lower in the watershed are elevated levels of endemism for small mammals. Water
637-519: The Griquas or Boers from an earlier Kora Khoekhoe or !Orakobab name, sometimes spelled as Tky-Gariep (in Khoekhoegowab orthography it is ǀHai!garib , drab river). Both Vaal and Tky (in modern orthography ǀHai ) mean "drab" or "dull", which alludes to the colour of the waters, especially noticeable during flood season when the river is laden with silt. In the upper reaches the river
686-649: The Indian Ocean . It then flows westwards to its confluence with the Orange River southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape . It is 1,458 kilometres (906 mi) long, and forms the border between Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Province on its north bank, and the Free State on its south. It is the third largest river in South Africa after the Orange River (2200 km long) and
735-538: The Limpopo River (1750 km long) and was established as the main source of water for the great Witswatersrand area after the 19th century gold rush . The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River in Deneysville just south of the border between Gauteng and the Free State. The Vaal River is the longest river wholly within the borders of South Africa. Vaal is a Dutch name (later Afrikaans ), translated by
784-616: The Orange Free State . The geographic name "Transvaal" comes from the name of this river, meaning "beyond the Vaal river". This was in respect to the Cape Colony and Natal , which were the main areas of European settlement at the time, and which lay south of the Vaal. During the late 19th century, there was an influx of people migrating to the Witwatersrand in search of gold . The Vaal River would eventually become
833-704: The Seven Provinces of the Dutch Republic , the mother country of the Dutch United East India Company . This prompted Great Britain to occupy the Cape Colony in 1795 as a way to better control the seas in order to stop any potential French attempt to reach India . The British sent a fleet of nine warships which anchored at Simon's Town and, following the defeat of the VOC militia at the Battle of Muizenberg , took control of
882-610: The Witwatersrand . The organisation's members included officials from the Johannesburg Town Council, The Chamber of Mines and other local authorities within the Witwatersrand. Rand Water responded to water scarcity by imposing restrictions on Witwatersrand inhabitants in 1913. It also developed major water schemes that would respond to the growing demand. Between 1914 and 1998, the organisation partnered with various government and private entities to drive
931-533: The eastern-western division was largely laid to rest. The system of multi-racial franchise also began a slow and fragile growth in political inclusiveness, and ethnic tensions subsided. In 1877, the state expanded by annexing Griqualand West and Griqualand East – that is, the Mount Currie district ( Kokstad ). The emergence of two Boer mini-republics along the Missionary Road resulted in 1885 in
980-640: The 1802 Treaty of Amiens . It was re-occupied by the British following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, and British possession affirmed with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . The Cape of Good Hope then remained in the British Empire , becoming self-governing in 1872. The colony was coextensive with the later Cape Province , stretching from the Atlantic coast inland and eastward along
1029-550: The 1994 creation of the present-day South African provinces , the Cape Province was partitioned into the Eastern Cape , Northern Cape , and Western Cape , with smaller parts in North West province. An expedition of the VOC led by Jan van Riebeeck established a trading post and naval victualing station at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Van Riebeeck's objective was to secure a harbour of refuge for VOC ships during
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#17327916889881078-447: The British colonists and the Boers. Rhodes also brought in the first formal restrictions on the political rights of the Cape of Good Hope's black African citizens. The Cape of Good Hope remained nominally under British rule until the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it became the province of the Cape of Good Hope, better known as the Cape Province . The districts of the colony in 1850 were: Population figures for
1127-554: The Cape's Prime Minister in 1890, he instigated a rapid expansion of British influence into the hinterland. In particular, he sought to engineer the conquest of the Transvaal, and although his ill-fated Jameson Raid failed and brought down his government, it led to the Second Boer War and British conquest at the turn of the century. The politics of the colony consequently came to be increasingly dominated by tensions between
1176-619: The Vaal River before the Vaal Dam was built in 1938; now the water flows straight into the dam. Kromelmboogspruit joins the Vaal near the Vaal Barrage . Since the Vaal River's surface runoff is erratic, large dams have been built along its course to collect the water. In the past, before the river was established as the official source of water for part of the Gauteng , several small dams were built by farmers for irrigation . When
1225-645: The Vaal River from other catchment areas between the 1970s and 1990s. These include the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and KwaZulu-Natal 's Tugela-Vaal Water Transfer Scheme. The Tugela-Vaal Transfer Scheme was completed in 1974 to transfer from the Tugela River in KwaZulu Natal via canals, pipelines and dams into the Vaal River system The Lesotho Highlands Water Project was finally launched in 1997 and would entail
1274-747: The Vaal River scheme and the barrage (1914–1924). The Vaal River scheme was an initiative established to manage water distribution. The Rand Water board also established the Vereeniging Pumping Station (1924), the Zwartkopjes Pumping Station, the Vaal Dam (1938), the Zuikerbosch Pumping Station (1949) and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (1998). Rain and underground water collects in pans, vleis and streams and where these connect,
1323-464: The Vaal supports 12 million consumers in Gauteng and surrounding areas. The majority of the Vaal River water upstream of the Vaal Dam is used for mining and industrial use such as coal mines and Sasol 's energy and chemical-related activities, as well as urban use and power generation. Further downstream of the dam, water is mostly dedicated to urban requirements and, although proportionally less,
1372-632: The Warren Expedition, sent to annex the republics of Stellaland and Goshen (lands annexed to British Bechuanaland ). Major-General Charles Warren annexed the land south of the Molopo River as the colony of British Bechuanaland and proclaimed a protectorate over the land lying to the North of the river. Vryburg , the capital of Stellaland, became capital of British Bechuanaland, while Mafeking (now Mahikeng ), although situated south of
1421-450: The authority of the British governor did not relieve tensions in the colony between its eastern and western sections. In 1872, after a long political battle, the Cape of Good Hope achieved responsible government under its first Prime Minister, John Molteno . Henceforth, an elected Prime Minister and his cabinet had total responsibility for the affairs of the country. A period of strong economic growth and social development ensued, and
1470-615: The colonists and the Khoe-speaking indigenes , followed by the Xhosa , both of which they perceived as unwanted competitors for prime farmland. VOC traders imported thousands of slaves to the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch East Indies and other parts of Africa. By the end of the eighteenth century the Cape's population swelled to about 26,000 people of European descent and 30,000 slaves. In 1795, France occupied
1519-425: The colonists who settled directly on the frontier became increasingly independent and localised in their loyalties. Known as Boers , they migrated beyond the Cape Colony's initial borders and had soon penetrated almost a thousand kilometres inland. Some Boers even adopted a nomadic lifestyle permanently and were denoted as trekboers . The VOC colonial period had a number of bitter, genocidal conflicts between
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1568-513: The construction of the Vaal Dam was completed in 1938, the dam ensured the supply of water throughout each year even when the river was not full. The dam would receive water from different catchment areas through various projects. Two water transfer schemes were developed to supply the economic heartland of the country (then recognised as the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging complex) by channelling water into
1617-478: The fledgling colony's borders; in exchange they received tax exempt status and were loaned tools and seeds . Reflecting the multi-national nature of the early trading companies, the VOC granted vrijburger status to Dutch, Swiss, Scandinavian and German employees, among others. In 1688 they also sponsored the immigration of nearly two hundred French Huguenot refugees who had fled to the Netherlands upon
1666-514: The government of the Cape Colony as well as Boer settlers finally died down when the Xhosa took part in a mass destruction of their own crops and cattle , in the belief that this would cause their ancestors to wake from the dead. The resulting famine crippled Xhosa country and ushered in a long period of stability on the border. Peace and prosperity, in addition to the Convict crisis of 1849, led to
1715-402: The long voyages between Europe and Asia. Within about three decades, the Cape had become home to a large community of vrijlieden , also known as vrijburgers ('free citizens'), former VOC employees who settled in the colonies overseas after completing their service contracts. Vrijburgers were mostly married citizens who undertook to spend at least twenty years farming the land within
1764-482: The main water source for the Witwatersrand. The growing population initially used water from the groundwater of the Zuurbekom Wells in Gauteng 's West Rand. Eventually these would dry up and people would need a new source that could provide for their domestic, agricultural and industrial activities. Water schemes were initially established by the private sector to deal with the growing demand. These included
1813-560: The protectorate border, became the protectorate's administrative centre. The border between the protectorate and the colony ran along the Molopo and Nossob rivers. In 1895, British Bechuanaland became part of the Cape Colony. However, the discovery of diamonds around Kimberley and gold in the Transvaal led to a return to instability, particularly because they fuelled the rise to power of the ambitious imperialist Cecil Rhodes . On becoming
1862-618: The river to dilute its high salt levels, thereby wasting a large quantity of this scarce resource. In 2021, a report released by the South African Human Rights Commission found the river to be polluted beyond acceptable levels, including the flow of raw sewerage into the River. The Vaal River is made up of 50 km of navigable water. The river basin thus offers a range of leisurely water activities that attract local and international tourists throughout
1911-524: The same year). The British , who set up a colony on 8 January 1806, hoped to keep Napoleon out of the Cape, and to control the Far East trade routes. The Cape Colony at the time of British occupation was three months' sailing distance from London . The White colonial population was small, no more than 25,000 in all, scattered across a territory of 100,000 square miles. Most lived in Cape Town and
1960-521: The southern coast, constituting about half of modern South Africa: the final eastern boundary, after several wars against the Xhosa , stood at the Fish River . In the north, the Orange River , natively known as the ǂNūǃarib (Black River) and subsequently called the Gariep River, served as the boundary for some time, although some land between the river and the southern boundary of Botswana
2009-606: The surrounding farming districts of the Boland , an area favoured with rich soils, a Mediterranean Climate and reliable rainfall. Cape Town had a population of 16,000 people. In 1814 the Dutch government formally ceded sovereignty over the Cape to the British , under the terms of the Convention of London . The British started to settle the eastern border of the Cape Colony, with the arrival in Port Elizabeth of
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2058-616: The territory. The United East India Company transferred its territories and claims to the Batavian Republic (the Revolutionary period Dutch state) in 1798, and went bankrupt in 1799. Improving relations between Britain and Napoleonic France , and its vassal state the Batavian Republic , led the British to hand the Cape of Good Hope over to the Batavian Republic in 1803, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens . In 1806,
2107-424: The westward flowing Vaal River is born. The river flows west into the Grootdraai Dam near Standerton , Mpumalanga . On its course to the Vaal Dam in Vereeniging, the river is joined by a number of tributaries. The Little Vaal River starts in an escarpment near Ermelo. Near Memel in the Free State is where the Klip River begins. The Watervals River begins in Secunda, Mpumalanga . The Wilge River used to meet
2156-408: The year. Activities include boating , yachting and water skiing . Deneysville is a town on the Free State side of the Vaal River and is a popular water-centre where visitors can enjoy swimming , kiteboarding , yachting , boating , catamaran cruising, jet skiing , windsurfing , snorkelling and fishing . Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( Dutch : Kaapkolonie ), also known as
2205-403: Was known as the Great Trek , and the migrating Boers settled inland, eventually forming the Boer Republics . British Immigration continued in the Cape, even as many of the Boers continued to trek inland, and the ending of the British East India Company 's monopoly on trade led to economic growth. At the same time, the long series of Xhosa Wars fought between the Xhosa people in the east and
2254-439: Was later added to it. From 1878, the colony also included the enclave of Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands , both in what is now Namibia . It united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa in 1910, and was accordingly renamed the Province of the Cape of Good Hope . South Africa became a sovereign state in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster . In 1961, it became the Republic of South Africa . Following
2303-425: Was named iLigwa ( Sindebele ), Ikwa or Igwa ( isiZulu ), ilikwa ( siSwati ), lekwa ( Sesotho ), or cuoa by the Khoikhoi, all referring to the plain it traverses. Historically, the river formed the northern border of Moshoeshoe I 's Basotho kingdom at its height in the mid-19th century, then became the boundary between two Boer republics : The South African Republic (later the Transvaal province) and
2352-428: Was preceded by an earlier corporate colony that became an original Dutch colony of the same name , which was established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) . The Cape was under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and under rule of the Napoleonic Batavia Republic from 1803 to 1806. The VOC lost the colony to Great Britain following the 1795 Battle of Muizenberg , but it was ceded to the Batavia Republic following
2401-436: Was the right hand to the chief of the ǀŨdiǁʼais (Springbok clan) of the !Orakuana ("Korana") nation. In June 1869, the South African Republic 's Volksraad created a new district called Bloemhof named after the town itself. Currently Bloemhof has a variety of social milieus; it has a township called Boitumelong and former coloured residence called Coverdale. Salamat is also a small residence, formerly an Indian suburb, which
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