- location Bashee Mouth Indian Ocean Province Eastern Cape | Basin area 6,030 km² Country South Africa Mouth elevation 0 | |
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- location NE of Elliot, Eastern Cape Similar Waterfall Bluff, Hluleka Nature Reserve, Drakensberg, Nelson Mandela Museum, Umkomazi River | ||
Mbhashe River, Mbashe River or Bashee River is one of the major rivers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It flows in a southeastern direction and has a catchment area of 6,030 km². The river drains into the Indian Ocean through an estuary located near the lighthouse at Bashee, south of Mhlanganisweni.
Contents
Map of Mbashe, South Africa
The Mbhashe river's main tributaries are the Xuka River, Mgwali River, Dutywa River and the Mnyolo River. Presently this river is part of the Mzimvubu to Keiskamma Water Management Area.
History
In 1554 Portuguese ship São Bento ran aground at the mouth of the Mbhashe River. The ordeal of 322 of its survivors, who walked from there to Lourenço Marques, presently Maputo, has been recorded.
Mvezo is a village on the banks of the Mbashe River, where Nelson Mandela was born in 1918.
Ecology
Some of the fishes caught in its waters are Labeobarbus aeneus, Barbus pallidus, Barbus anoplus, Myxus capensis, Anguilla marorata and Anguilla mossambica. Labeobarbus aeneus is an invasive species, now widely present in the river system.