It is the third largest river inSouth Africa after theOrange River (2200 km long) and theLimpopo River (1750 km long) and was established as the main source of water for the great Witswatersrand area afterthe 19th century gold rush.[2] TheVaal Dam lies on the Vaal River inDeneysville just south of the border betweenGauteng and the Free State. The Vaal River is the longest river wholly within the borders of South Africa.
Vaal is aDutch name (laterAfrikaans), translated by theGriquas orBoers[3] from an earlier KoraKhoekhoe or!Orakobab name, sometimes spelled asTky-Gariep (inKhoekhoegowab orthography it isǀHai!garib, drab river).[4]Both Vaal andTky (in modern orthographyǀHai) 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 was namediLigwa (Sindebele),Ikwa or Igwa (isiZulu),ilikwa (siSwati),lekwa (Sesotho), orcuoa by the Khoikhoi, all referring to the plain it traverses.[4]
Historically, the river formed the northern border ofMoshoeshoe I'sBasotho kingdom at its height[citation needed] in the mid-19th century, then became the boundary between twoBoer republics: TheSouth African Republic (later theTransvaal province) and theOrange Free State. The geographic name "Transvaal" comes from the name of this river, meaning "beyond the Vaal river". This was in respect to theCape Colony andNatal, 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 theWitwatersrand in search ofgold. The Vaal River would eventually become the main water source for the Witwatersrand. The growing population initially used water from the groundwater of theZuurbekom Wells inGauteng'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.[5]
Water schemes were initially established by the private sector to deal with the growing demand. These included theBraamfontein 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.[6]
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 andsanitation services. The organisation would become fully operational in 1905, supplying water in bulk to theWitwatersrand. The organisation's members included officials from the Johannesburg Town Council, The Chamber of Mines and other local authorities within the Witwatersrand.[6]
Rand Water responded towater 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 the Vaal River scheme and thebarrage (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 theLesotho Highlands Water Project (1998).[6]
The Vaal River Basin. The Vaal Basin in yellow and the Oranje Basin in orange.
Rain and underground water collects in pans,vleis and streams and where these connect, the westward flowing Vaal River is born. The river flows west into theGrootdraai Dam nearStanderton,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 anescarpment near Ermelo. Near Memel in theFree State is where theKlip River begins. The Watervals River begins in Secunda,Mpumalanga. TheWilge River used to meet the Vaal River before theVaal Dam was built in 1938; now the water flows straight into the dam.[5]Kromelmboogspruit joins the Vaal near theVaal Barrage.
Since the Vaal River'ssurface 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 theGauteng, several small dams were built by farmers forirrigation.
When the construction of theVaal 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 differentcatchment areas through various projects.[5]
Two water transfer schemes were developed to supply the economic heartlandof the country (then recognised as the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereenigingcomplex) by channelling water into the Vaal River from othercatchment areas between the 1970s and 1990s. These include theLesotho Highlands Water Project andKwaZulu-Natal's Tugela-Vaal Water Transfer Scheme.[7] The Tugela-Vaal Transfer Scheme was completed in 1974 to transfer from theTugela River inKwaZulu Natal via canals, pipelines and dams into the Vaal River system[5]
TheLesotho Highlands Water Project was finally launched in 1997 and would entail a three-phase construction that would augment water fromLesotho into the Vaal River, including four major dams. From 1954, the Natural Resources Development Council proposed thatSouth Africa receive some water from neighbouringLesotho. 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, theEuropean Union,United Nations and theWorld Bank. It was then estimated to cost R9.1 billion for the first phase of the project alone.[6]
South Africa pays R150 million to Lesotho each year whether they use all of the water that is supplied or not.[6]
According to Hogan the headwaters portion of the basin supports highendemism in reptiles, and lower in the watershed are elevated levels of endemism for small mammals.[8]
Water is drawn from the Vaal to meet the industrial needs of theGreater 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 oneshilling per 100 imperial gallons (450 L; 120 US gal).[9][10]
As a part of theVaal-Hartz Scheme it is a major source of water for irrigation. Water drawn from the Vaal supports 12 million consumers in Gauteng and surrounding areas.[11]
The majority of the Vaal River water upstream of theVaal Dam is used formining and industrial use such as coal mines andSasol'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, a considerable amount of this section is also used for mining and industries,irrigation and power generation.[12] The river regularly experiences pollution of its upper reaches, and this affects users downstream. During 2019 theLekwa Local Municipality's main water treatment plant inStanderton was in disrepair and was causing chronic pollution problems. To assist users downstream, clean water had to be pumped into the river to dilute its high salt levels, thereby wasting a large quantity of this scarce resource.[13] In 2021, a report released by theSouth African Human Rights Commission found the river to be polluted beyond acceptable levels, including the flow of raw sewerage into the River.[14][15]
The Vaal River is made up of 50 km of navigable water. Theriver basin thus offers a range of leisurely water activities that attract local and international tourists throughout the year. Activities includeboating,yachting andwater skiing.
