South Africa | Area code 27 | Common abbreviation ZA | Last updated 24-9-2007 | |||
| Road class | Syntax explanation | Administrative subordination | Sub classes | Zones | System | Remarks |
| National route | N[0-9]<1-2> | national | sequential | exit numbers by km | ||
| Major provincial route | R[0-9]<2> | national | >20 | |||
| Minor provincial route | R[0-9]<3> | national | 3 southwest | |||
| 5 north | ||||||
| 6 east | ||||||
| 7 centre | ||||||
| District routes | D[0-9]<1-3> | district | ||||
| Metropolitan routes | M[0-9]<1-2> | urban area | see region table | |||
| Other local roads | various | |||||
| General description:
National routes: The most important N roads are the N1, N2, N3, N4 and N7. These all have motorway sections. The N1 links Cape Town with Johnannesburg and Pretoria and continues to the Zimbabwe border. The N2 links Cape Town and Durban and continues along the Indian Ocean coast. The N3 is between Johannesburg and Durban. The N4 is the road from Pretoria to Mozambique (towards Maputo) and the N7 is the main north-south road between Cape town and Namibia. Higher numbers generally denote less important roads. Motorways have exit numbers by kilometers, these are assigned per former province (the administrative divisions were changed in the mid 1990's but exit numbers were not changed acoordingly). The N2 has exit numbers over 1000. Zones for minor provincial routes are determined by the first digit of all numbers with some exceptions. Zone 3 contains some numbers beginning with 4 (only R400-407). Zone 7 is smaller than the others. When a new national road is built, the old road gets an R number which is 100 higher (e.g. the old N2 becomes R102). This is only done for a few roads. District routes appear only in certain areas. Metropolitan routes appear in all major cities. North-south routes often have odd numbers and east-west routes have even numbers but there are always exceptions and in Durban it is the other way round. For other local roads see the region table. | ||||||
| Road signs: | ||||||
| Road type | Background | Text | ||||
| Motorways | Blue | White | ||||
| Other roads | Green | White | ||||
| Road class | Shape | |||||
| National | Pentagon | |||||
| Regional 2-d | Square (with corners at top and bottom) | |||||
| Regional 3-d | Rectangle | |||||
| Municipal | Rectangle | |||||
| Direction of travel is indicated under the number, inside the shield. North, west and south are indicated by N, W and S respectively. East appears as 'O-E' ('Oos' in Afrikaans). | ||||||
| Exit numbers appear in black text on a white rectangle. | ||||||
| History: Many R roads have recently been upgraded to N roads. Some old N roads have been extended: the N2 via the R29 from Golela to Ermelo, the N4 between Pretoria and Lobatse (Botswana). . | ||||||
| Number | Former other numbers | Route | ||||
| N5 | R49 | Winburg-Harrismith | ||||
| N6 | R30-R348 | Bloemfontein-East London | ||||
| N8 | R64 | Bloemfontein-Maseru | ||||
| N9 | R57-R62 | Colesberg-Middelburg-George | ||||
| N10 | R32 | Namibia-Upington-Port Elizabeth | ||||
| N11 | R35-R23 | Botswana-Potgietersrus-Ladysmith | ||||
| N12 | R29-R22 | George-Kimberley-Johannesburg-Witbank | ||||
| N13 | Changed to N12 | Johannesburg Southern Ring Road | ||||
| N14 | R64-R27-R47-R375-R47-R28 | Springbok-Upington-Pretoria | ||||
| N17 | R77-R29-R39 | Johannesburg-Ermelo-Mbabane (Swaziland) | ||||
| Other changes: | ||||||
| Old number(s) | New number | |||||
| R26 | R59 | |||||
| R78 | R603 | |||||
| M27/unnumbered | R82 | |||||
Sources and links: Various maps and atlases
Official sites: | ||||||
| Sources: various maps and atlases | ||||||
| City/area | Municipal roads | Other local roads | ||
| Syntax | System/remarks | Syntax | System/remarks | |
| Bloemfontein | M[0-9]<2> | |||
| Cape Town | M[0-9]<1-2> | classes: 1-d 2-d | ||
| Durban | M[0-9]<1-2> | Even north-south, odd east-west (many exceptions) | MR[0-9]<3> | Only known numbers MR468, MR559 |
| East London | M[0-9]<1-2> | Odd north-south, even east-west | ||
| Pietermaritzburg | M[1-9]0 | Main roads through the city | ||
| Port Elizabeth | M[0-9]<1-2> | |||
| Pretoria | M[0-9]<1-2> | Odd north-south, even east-west (many exceptions) | ||
| Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) | M[0-9]<1-2> | Odd north-south, even east-west (many exceptions) M1 and M2 are the main motorways through the city | K[0-9]<2-3> | |
| Kruger National Park | H[0-9]<1-2>{-[1-9]} | Main National Park Routes Suffixes denote sections (H1-1, H1-2 etc.) | ||
| S[0-9]<1-3> | Secondary National Park Routes | |||