OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

4.22.1.3 Pedology, agriculture and land use
The soils in the Levuvhu sub-catchment can be divided into three main groups:
• Moderately deep, red-coloured sandy-clay loam soils on the tops of the hill slopes and undulating terrain in
the uppermost reaches of the sub-catchment;
• Shallow to moderately deep, reddish to tan coloured sandy soils lining the valley bottoms in the middle
reaches of the sub-catchment; and
• Small areas of clay-rich, blackish or mottled soils with a high organic content covering flood terraces close
to the lower reaches of the Levuvhu River and the Limpopo River; in some parts (e.g. the Pafuri Floodplain,
these soils have a high sodium content and dispersive characteristics).
Most of the sandy-clay loam soils in the upper parts of the sub-catchment fall within a zone of higher rainfall and
support extensive plantation forestry activities. The sub-catchment is under the jurisdiction of a formal water
control a board that is responsible for irrigation water allocations from the four storage reservoirs. Further away
from the main channels of the Mutale and Levuvhu rivers, land use consists almost entirely of subsistence rainfed
cultivation of drought-resistant crops and small-scale livestock farming.
The overall pattern of land use in the Levuvhu sub-catchment is relatively complex, and includes towns,
collected or grouped (but not collective) villages and settlements, traditional family units, commercial and
subsistence cropping of cultivated lands, natural forests and forest plantations, Nature Reserves and National
Parks (the northern portion of the Kruger National Park).
Land use in the upper reaches of the sub-catchment comprises mainly commercial framing and large plantation
forestry estates, with natural forests on the watershed dividing the Mutale and Levuvhu catchments. The town
of Louis Trichardt located on the sub-catchment boundary to the west is the main service and industrial centre
for the upper portion of the sub-catchment.
In the central reaches of the sub-catchment, the predominant land use consists of groups of villages serving
nearby collected (but not collective) agricultural plots. This development hinges around the rapidly expanding
urban centre of Thohoyandou, which is located close to the Levuvhu River. The central portion of the subcatchment
is also used extensively for small and large livestock rearing. Further to the east, there is a transition
in land use from villages and agricultural plots to traditional single-family subsistence agriculture. In the
lowermost reaches of the sub-catchment, land use is entirely devoted to conservation in Nature Reserves and
the Kruger National Park.
The Tshikondeni Colliery is located close to the lower reaches of the Levuvhu River, whilst several closed and
abandoned mines, as well as alluvial diamond prospecting areas, are located closer to the Limpopo River.
4.22.1.4 Surface water users
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