Apies River
| Apies | |
| River | |
 The Apies River as it flows through the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria
25°44′00″S 28°11′05″E / 25.7334°S 28.1847°E |
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| Country |  South Africa |
|---|---|
| Province | Gauteng |
| Source | |
| - location | Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Mouth | Pienaars River |
| - coordinates | 25°10′24.545″S 28°06′38.707″E / 25.17348472°S 28.11075194°E |
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The Apies River is a river that flows through the city of Pretoria, South Africa. Its source is located just south of the city (south of Erasmus Park) and it flows northward until it drains into the Pienaars River.[1]
The river is also known as the Apiesrivier in Afrikaans (in which "Apies" means "small monkeys"), and is traditionally also called the Tshwane River by the indigenous peoples[citation needed]. Pretoria itself also came to be referred to as Tshwane by the African communities, after the river, and that name is currently the center of a controversial, politically driven attempt to rename the city itself to Tshwane[citation needed]. In fact it only becomes officially the Tshwane River at Makapanstad about 7 Km before it joinst the Pienaars River.
Nguni-speaking settlers, who became known as the Ndebele, are thought to have been the first people to recognise the suitability of the Apies River valley as a place to put down roots. They named the river after one of the chiefs, Tshwane (“little ape”), which was later translated into the Afrikaans “Apies”. The river is presently to a large extent canalised with little resemblance of the natural river reach of the past. The river reach between Wonderboom Poort and the Bon Accord Dam is, however, not canalised.
The Mamelodi township also draws its name from the name of the river, with the full name being "Mamelodi ya Tshwane", meaning "Whistler of the Apies River", a nickname given to Paul Kruger[2]
[edit] Dams on the Apies River
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Gauteng State of the Environment Report 2004". Gauteng Provintial Government. p. 4. http://www.deat.gov.za/soer/reports/gauteng/Chapter%202%20Welcome%20to%20the%20Smart%20Province.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-27.[dead link]
- ^ "Meanings of place names in South Africa". africanlanguages.com. http://africanlanguages.com/south_africa/place_names.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
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