Dams

Ciskei, Seymour · 1989-02-03

Official

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front

Cachet: The cachet is an oval watercolour landscape showing the Mnyameni Dam nestled in a green valley, with rolling hills rising on either side of the water and a small dam wall visible at the lower left. The colours shift from deep green in the foreground hills to a paler, hazier green in the distance, giving the scene a real sense of depth. Above the illustration the word "Mnyameni" appears in plain black type, and below it the cover reads "Dams of Ciskei" in a matching serif font, alongside a small bird silhouette.

Info card

DAMS 16c Kat River Dam This concrete multiple-arch dam lies on the Kat River and has a catchment area of 258 square kilometres. Its gross storage capacity is 26,1 million cubic metres and the dam wall is 55,63 metres high. It is one of the sources of raw water supply for the Kat River Basin Scheme. Water is released from the dam for a number of run-of-the-river irrigation schemes and the domestic supply of the town of Seymour. 30c Cata Dam The Cata Dam on the Cata River has a catchment area of 54,3 square kilometres. It is an earth dam with a capacity of 12,5 million cubic metres. Together with the Mnyameni Dam it is the source of raw water for the Keiskammahoek Scheme, which supplies potable water to the town of Keiskammahoek and the rural villages. 40c Binfield Park Dam Lying on the Tyume River, the Binfield Park Dam has a catchment area of 132,8 square kilometres, a capacity of 37 million cubic metres, and a lake-surface area of 180 hectares. The zoned earth and rockfill dam wall is 50 metres high. The dam is the raw-water source for the Binfield Park water-supply scheme, which provides irrigation water to approximately 1 000 hectares of citrus orchards and drinking water to the town of Alice as well as approximately 40 000 rural inhabitants of the Tyume Valley. The dam is situated some 14 km from Alice. 50c Sandile Dam The Sandile Dam on the Keiskamma River has a catchment area of 353 square kilometres. The storage capacity is 30,5 million cubic metres, with a lake-surface area of 184 hectares when full. It is a zoned-embankment earth dam with a dam wall of 58 metres high. The dam is the bulk water supply for the Sandile Scheme, which at present provides potable water for the growing towns of Dimbaza and Middledrift, as well as Bulembu, the new Ciskei International Airport, the Fort Cox Agricultural College, the Ntaba-Ka-Ndoda Monument and several rural villages. The scheme is to be greatly expanded in the near future. Commemorative envelope: Mnyameni Dam This earth dam lies on the uMnyama River and has a catchment area of 19,6 square kilometres and a capacity of 2 million cubic metres. It is a source of raw water for the Keiskammahoek and Redhill irrigation schemes.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 2 March 1989 in Seymour. The four stamps, illustrated by S. Nowers, depict the Kat River Dam, Cata Dam, Binfield Park Dam and Sandile Dam, each supplying water to different towns and irrigation schemes across the region. The Sandile Dam, the largest of the four featured, was built to supply not only the growing towns of Dimbaza and Middledrift but also the newly built Ciskei International Airport and the Fort Cox Agricultural College, reflecting how closely the region's water infrastructure was tied to its wider development plans at the time.

Theme: Science & Technology

Condition: FineGood condition. Minor wear or small imperfections, but overall well-presented.

Addressed: No

Signed: No

Stamp denomination: R1.36 (ZAR)

Estimated value: ~US$0.1

This is a high-level, subjective estimate only, not a professional appraisal.