The longest river in South Africa is the Orange River which starts off life in the Drakensberg Mountains and works its way westwards to Alexander Bay and then onto the west coast of South Africa. The Orange River is some 2,200km in length considerably longer than other well-known rivers here such as the Vaal River (1,120km) and the Tugela River (502km).

The Orange River also feeds water to the Gariep Dam – the largest dam in South Africa. This huge dam is an important source of electricity able to create 360MW of electricity at its maximum output. (more…)