It’s all about infrastructure, watershed boundaries, tributaries, and momentarily suspending belief in the exact science of stormwater drainage systems within the Witwatersrand Ridge. Urban legend has it that in the residential neighbourhood of Melville, between Auckland Park and Emmerentia, Richmond and Westdene, there is a road that has a unique characteristic about it…
Based on its elevation and gradient, when it rains, water flows to both the left and right-hand sides of it, and into the relevant stormwater drains. When this happens, one of two things takes place.
Water flowing into the righthand side stormwater drain (if you’re facing West) feeds into the Westdene Spruit, which is the source for the Emmerentia Dam, which then flows into the Braamfontein Spruit, then the Jukskei, the Crocodile, a small stop-over at Haarties, again back into the Krokodile, all the way to the Botswana border and into the Limpopo, to the top of South Africa, under Zimbabwe, through Mozambique, and out into the Indian Ocean at the Limpopo Estuary near the Xai Xai District.
Water flowing into the lefthand side of the road feeds into the Klip River, which then flows through to Vereeniging via Soweto and Lenasia, where it empties into the Vaal River, down-stream from the Vaal Dam. After acting as a natural border between the North West and Free State Province, it meets up at the confluence of the Orange River in Douglas, then all way past Upington and over the Augrabies Waterfall. It acts as a natural international border between South Africa and Namibia until it finally filters out into the Atlantic Ocean at the Orange River Delta in Alexander Bay.
Two separate oceans, one little road in Melville. Makes you think….how many valves did that water have to go through 😉 (or not!!)