It occurs in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The head is long and narrow, with a sharply pointed snout, small eyes and rounded ears.

The dorsal pelage is blackish-brown tinged with rust, the individual hairs having greyish bases, brownish bands and brownish-black tips.

It has a requirement for a wetland habitat and occurs in reed beds and semi-aquatic vegetation, in the vicinity of rivers and lakes and in seasonally flooded areas, with a marked preference for marshes and swamps.

[2] This shrew was classified as "near threatened" in 2016 by South African National Bioinformatics Institute;[3] however, it has a wide range, is presumed to have a stable and large total population, and faces no particular threats, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".