Page 12 - IFV_Issue 3_March_2022
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Water Dikkop at bird-rich Panic Dam in the Sabie-Sand basin  Typical scene along the Lower Sabie road
                                     THE SABIE RIVER



                                            BY JAMES CLARKE, PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARY BROADLEY
                            The most biologically diverse river in southern Africa.


                  here’s a river in Mpumalanga, a   lappet-faced vulture, ground hornbill,   generally unpolluted mountains and
                  mere 230km long, that is unique   Pel’s fishing owl, the saddle-billed stork,   flows through many rapids which are
            T– unique not just in South Africa,   martial eagle and Kori bustard.   excellent for oxygenating the water and,
            but in the world.                  Its variety of mammals is a world   therefore  breaking  down  some  of  the
              It is called the Sabie and it rises   wonder and includes the original  ‘Big   pollutants.
            2 000 or so metres up in Mpumalanga’s   Five’ – elephant, black rhino, Cape buffalo,   And,  fortunately,  the  Sabie  is  not,  so
            Drakensberg  Escarpment. It then  drops   lion, and leopard – and there’s 19 species   far, losing a critical amount of water to
            rapidly to the Lowveld after racing   of antelope plus a bewildering variety of   thirsty pine and eucalyptus plantations.
            through  the  small  but  wildly  growing   smaller mammals.       However,  in  1999,  the  Department  of
            town of Sabie and, 50km on, through   The Sabie-Sand River Basin (the Sand   Water Affairs completed the Injaka
            Hazyview and into Kruger National Park.   River merges with the Sabie in the park)   Dam on the Marite River, a tributary of
            From there, it crosses into Mozambique,   covers 7 000 square kilometres including   the Sabie, ostensibly ‘for irrigation’ but
            to be swallowed up by the Inkomati River,   the Sabi Sands Game Reserve and four   it also provides water for resorts that
            which empties into the Indian Ocean.  smaller reserves on Kruger’s western   have since developed around it and for
              Biologically, considering the Sabie’s   flank.                   Bushbuckridge itself –  a municipality
            modest length, it is probably the richest   A  big  concern  is  what  is  happening   that is growing as steadily as Sabie and
            stretch of river on the planet. The Amazon   west of these reserves.   Hazyview.
            has nothing to compare with the Sabie’s   The town of Sabie has allowed its   At the end of the 20th century it was
            wildlife in and out of the water.  sewerage plant to deteriorate and   found that, of the seven rivers than cross
              Almost half the river’s length is in   pollute the river. Hazyview is becoming   Kruger Park from west to east, all had, in
            Kruger Park.                      overwhelmed by hastily erected homes   time of drought, dried up – all, that is,
              Its species of fish alone total 47. Its frog   and ad hoc small industries – just a dozen   except the Sabie. Uniquely, the Sabie has
            life is also remarkable and so is its variety   kilometres from Kruger Park.   never stopped flowing. If ever it does, it
            of birds. I’d guess at more than 400 species   The good thing about the Sabie   would be nothing less than a national
            of birds including what birders nowadays   River itself  is that it springs in the wild,   tragedy.
            try to spot – the ‘Big Six’. These are the

















            The Lower Sabie near Skukuza


             10  •  Issue 3  2022  •  The Villager
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