Waterval is a residential township situated in front of Elim Hospital in Elim along the R578 Regional Route to Giyani in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.
Waterval is part of Makhado Local Municipality within the Vhembe District Municipality of the Limpopo Province.
Waterval includes Njhakanjhaka, Lemana, Elim Hospital, Elim Mall, Hubyeni Shopping Centre and Magangeni, but excludes Shirley village, which is a separate farm. Shirley shares a legal boundary with Waterval and Mbhokota village to the east.
Waterval forms part of the Njhakanjhaka Traditional Authority, also referred to as the Elim/Shirley Traditional Authority, which had a combined population of more than 22,000 people in 2015.
The Njhakanjhaka Traditional Authority or Elim/Shirley Traditional Authority proper includes Mbhokota, Bokisi, Chavani, Riverplaats and Nwaxinyamani, with a total population of more than 42,000 people.
Due to apartheid policies of the 1960s, the land of the Njhakanjhaka Traditional Authority was reduced to Waterval, Shirley, Lemana and Elim, while the villages of Mbhokota, Bokisi, Chavani, Milaboni, Riverplaats, Tzaneen and Nwaxinyamani were placed under the administration of Chief Njhakanjhaka’s firstborn son, Chief Chavani Njhakanjhaka Mukhari. These villages are collectively known as the Nkhensani Tribal Authority, under Hosi Chavani.
The offices of the Nkhensani Tribal Authority are located at Chavani village, behind the township of Waterval.
