The Komati River, also known as the Inkomati River or Incomati River (in Mozambique, from Portuguese Rio Incomati), is a river in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. Originating in north-western Eswatini, it is joined by the Crocodile River in the Lebombo Mountains, enters far south-western Mozambique below the border town of Komatipoort, and enters the Indian Ocean around north-east of Maputo.
The name Komati is derived from inkomati, meaning "cow" in siSwati, as its perennial nature is compared to a cow that always has milk.
Geography
left|thumb|Location of the Komati River and its tributaries with the respective country border
The river originates west of Carolina, rising at an elevation of about near Breyten in the Ermelo district of the Mpumalanga province. It flows in a general northeasterly direction and reaches the Indian Ocean at Maputo Bay, after a course of some .
The Komati Gorge is situated in the upper reaches of the Komati River and is the habitat of some endangered species such as the southern bald ibis. In 2001 the 115 m high wall of the Maguga Dam was completed south of Piggs Peak, Eswatini, <small></small>
In its upper valley near Steynsdorp are goldfields, but the reefs consist almost entirely of low grade ore. The river descends the Drakensberg by a pass south of Barberton, and is deflected northward at the eastern border of Eswatini, keeping a course parallel to the Lebombo mountains. Just west of 32° E and 25° 25′ S, near the town of Komatipoort, it is joined by the Crocodile River. The Crocodile tributary rises, as the Elands River, in the Bergendal (1,961 m) near the upper waters of the Komati, and flows eastwards across the highveld, being turned northward as it reaches the Drakensberg escarpment. The fall to the lowveld is over 600 metres in , and across the wide country between the Drakensberg and the Lebombo there is a further fall of 900 metres. Subsequently, Jan van Riebeeck's journal mentions a Rio de Reijs, when he dispatched a ship up the east coast in search of rice supplies. In voortrekker Louis Tregardt's journal it is referred to as the Manhissa, a name still extant, while to the British it was known as the King George River.
In 1725 a Dutch expedition led by Francois de Kuiper explored the region of the lower Komati and travelled 30 km into the current Mpumalanga province, before they were attacked by local tribes and had to return to Delagoa Bay.
On the September 23, 1900 during the Second Boer War, 3,000 Boers crossed the frontier at the small town of Komatipoort, and surrendered to the Portuguese authorities.