[2] The Cape river frog occurs in a wide range of temperate to tropical habitats wherever fresh water is at least sufficient seasonally for breeding, including arable land, pastureland, savanna, shrubland, fynbos, grassland, rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, marshes and springs, water storage areas, ponds, dams, and sewage treatment areas.

Where it occupies farm dams, it commonly emerges during the morning and takes up an inconspicuous position on the bank where it basks until the sun becomes too intense near noon.

While basking, it is much sought by predators such as herons and is accordingly shy; one of its most familiar manifestations is a series of plops as frogs successively leap into the water while any threat walks by.

Typically, a call begins with a rattle of clicks about 0.1 seconds apart, like a slowly played güiro or a thumbnail run over the teeth of a comb, followed by a short series of brief croaks.

[2] It is an active opportunistic predator, readily feeding on moderately sized invertebrates such as crickets, but also attacks small reptiles, mammals, and amphibians, including smaller members of its own species.

When it occupies streams and ditches, the Cape river frog prefers deep ponds such as occur below inlets and races where the turbulent flow hollows out convenient shelters.

It also prefers deep, still water for its breeding, where its tadpoles grow fairly slowly, but achieve a large size; in shallow streams, they mature more rapidly into smaller juvenile frogs.