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 The N12 atPerseboom Drift inMeiringspoort as it passes through theSwartberg | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained bySANRAL | ||||
| Length | 1,342 km (834 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Southwest end |  N2 nearGeorge | |||
| Major intersections |  N9 nearGeorge N1 nearBeaufort WestN1 atThree Sisters N10 atBritstown N8 inKimberley N18 atWarrentonN1 nearSoweto  N3 /N17 nearGermistonN3 atBedfordview | |||
| Northeast end |  N4 ineMalahleni | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | South Africa | |||
| Provinces | Western Cape,Northern Cape,North West,Gauteng,Mpumalanga | |||
| Major cities | ||||
| Highway system | ||||
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TheN12 is anational route inSouth Africa which runs fromGeorge throughBeaufort West,Kimberley,Klerksdorp andJohannesburg toeMalahleni.[1]
It is the only other National Route after theN1 route that connects theWestern Cape Province with theGauteng Province. Prior to 1971, the N12 from Johannesburg toThree Sisters was known as the N13.[2][citation needed]
The road starts inGeorge in theWestern Cape and ends ineMalahleni inMpumalanga. The road runs roughly from south to north, however, once it passesKimberley in theNorthern Cape, it gradually turns eastward. Only the section betweenSoweto andeMalahleni is a limited access dual motorway. The section betweenKlerksdorp andPotchefstroom is a dual carriage highway. The N12 remains the only National Route other than theN1 that linksBeaufort West withJohannesburg.
The N12 route begins south-east of the town centre ofGeorge at an intersection with theN2. From this junction, it runsconcurrently with theN9. It goes north-west, through the centre of George. Near Mont Fleur Mountain Estate, the N12/N9 turns northwards, passing through the western area of the Witfontein Nature Reserve as theOuteniqua Pass.[1]
At the junction with theR62 at the northern edge of theOuteniqua Mountains, the N12 splits from the N9 and becomes cosigned with the R62, going north-west towards Oudtshoorn (33 km). InOudtshoorn, at the four-way intersection with theR328, the R62 continues by way of a left turn and the N12 continues by way of a right turn. The N12 goes east-north-east for 35 km, bypassingDysselsdorp, to reachDe Rust, where it meets theR341 route. At this point, it turns northwards, becoming theMeiringspoort Pass, passing theSwartberg mountain range. After Meiringspoort, atKlaarstroom, the N12 cosigns with theR407 for 7 kilometres westwards up to the next junction, where the R407 continues westwards and the N12 continues northwards. The N12 makes a 120 km journey to Beaufort West.[1]
Just beforeBeaufort West, at the south-eastern edge of theKaroo National Park, the N12 meets theN1 national route and joins it. They are one route through Beaufort West, meeting the western terminus of theR61. The N1 and N12 routes remain as one road for the next 75 km north-east from Beaufort West toThree Sisters, where they enter theNorthern Cape.[1]
At the next junction inThree Sisters, the N12 and the N1 split, with the N1 continuing toColesberg and the N12 becoming the road northwards. The N12 and the N1 meet again later, inJohannesburg South, Gauteng. The N12 is the onlynational route other than the N1 that links theWestern Cape with Johannesburg, with the N12 passing through Kimberley and the N1 passing throughBloemfontein.[1] While the N1 is atoll road from Bloemfontein onwards, the N12 is toll-free for its length.[1]
From the Three Sisters split, the N12 makes a 170 km northwards journey, throughVictoria West (where it meets theR63), toBritstown, where it passes through the town centre before meeting theN10 national route coming fromDe Aar. The two routes cosign for 3 km northwards before the N10 makes its own way north-west towardsUpington andNamibia.[1]
The N12 continues north-north-east for 254 km, throughStrydenburg andHopetown (where it crosses theOrange River), toKimberley (capital city of theNorthern Cape). It enters as Memorial Road, meeting the south-eastern terminus of theR31 road before meeting theN8 national route (which is coming fromBloemfontein) and co-signing with it northwards as Bultfontein Road. At the Long Street junction in the city centre, the N8 becomes Long Street westwards and the N12 becomes the road eastwards. Just after, the N12 meets the western terminus of theR64 road (which is also coming fromBloemfontein) and becomes the road northwards (Quinn Street).[1]
From Hopetown, the N12 gradually follows the shape of the boundary between theNorthern Cape and theFree State, as well as the boundary between theNorth West and the Free State. (Following in close proximity; switching from going northwards to going eastwards without touching the boundary)
From Kimberley, the N12 makes a 75 km journey northwards toWarrenton, where it meets the southern terminus of theN18 national route before crossing theVaal River to enter theNorth West Province.[1]
The N12 makes a 100 km journey north-east, following theVaal River, throughChristiana, toBloemhof, where it meets theR34 road (co-signed for 2 kilometres) and passes through as Prince Street.[1]
From Bloemhof, the N12 continues north-east for 150 km, passedWolmaransstad, toKlerksdorp, where it becomes a dual carriageway and meets theR30 road. It continues eastwards as a dual carriageway for another 50 km toPotchefstroom, an academic city (where it meets theR53 route in the city centre next to theMooi River crossing and the western terminus of theR54 route about 9 kilometres after the city centre).[1]
After Potchefstroom, the N12 entersGauteng eastwards and bypasses the towns ofCarletonville,Westonaria (where it meets theR28 road) and Lenasia as the Moroka Bypass into theCity of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. At theR558 junction, the N12 becomes a freeway and separatesSoweto in the north fromLenasia in the south. The N12 proceeds eastwards to meet theN1 national route again (north eastbound only) at the Misgund Interchange adjacent to theOlifantsvlei Nature Reserve.[1]
The N12 joins the N1 and they become one freeway northwards for four kilometres, meeting theR553 Golden Highway, up to the Diepkloof Interchange, the south-western corner of theJohannesburg Ring Road.[1]
As the N1 continues north through the western area ofJohannesburg's municipality as theN1 Western Bypass, the N12 becomes the highway going eastwards through the southern area of Johannesburg as theN12 Southern Bypass. Here, the N12 Southern Bypass, which cuts a concrete swath through the rocky hills of southern Johannesburg, is apparently very reminiscent of the freeways ofLos Angeles, and together with Johannesburg's sunshine, renders a realSouthern California feel to that part of the city.[1]
Just after splitting from the N1, north ofSouthgate Shopping Centre and south of theAeroton industrial area, at the Uncle Charlie's Interchange, the N12 meets theM1 De Villiers Graaff Motorway (north eastbound only), which is the freeway toJohannesburg Central andSandton in the north. The N12 highway continues eastwards, through many suburbs ofJohannesburg South (includingRidgeway,Winchester Hills andOakdene), toAlberton. At the Reading interchange with theR59 Sybrand van Niekerk Freeway in Alberton, the N12 begins to change direction, slowly turning northwards. The next off-ramp with theM31/R103 provides access to Alberton Central.[1]
At the Elands Interchange, the N12 flies over theN17 toll freeway and merges with theN3 freeway fromHeidelberg andDurban to form theN3 Eastern Bypass portion of the Johannesburg Ring Road, going northwards.[1] At the Elands Interchange, as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Scheme, two slip roads have been made linking theN17 toll freeway to the N12 freeway. It is now possible to travel from the N17 west to the N12 west and from the N12 east to the N17 east (previously only possible via the N3).[3]
The N3 and N12 are co-signed as one freeway northwards, passing in-betweenJohannesburg andGermiston (Capital ofEkurhuleni) and intersecting with theM2 freeway at the Geldenhuys Interchange, where the M2 provides access to Germiston Central in the east andJohannesburg Central in the west.[1]
The N3/N12 continue northwards up to the George Bizos Interchange (previously known as the Gillooly's Interchange[4]) inBedfordview, east of theEastgate Shopping Centre. At this interchange, the N12 leaves theEastern Bypass portion of theJohannesburg Ring Road (which remains designated as the N3 northwards) and joins theR24 Airport Freeway eastwards.[1] Due to common traffic at this interchange, it is purported to be the busiest interchange in theSouthern Hemisphere.[5]
The N12 is cosigned with the R24 for 2 kilometers. Just before the Lungile Mtshali Road (M37) off-ramp, the R24 and the N12 split, with the R24 becoming its own east-north-east freeway (the Albertina Sisulu Freeway) towardsO. R. Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg International Airport) and the N12 remaining as the eastwards highway towardsBenoni andWitbank.[1]
The N12 continues through theCity of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, passing through the northern parts ofGermiston andBoksburg. In Boksburg, the N12 meets theR21 freeway fromPretoria and O. R. Tambo International Airport in the north (providing access to Boksburg Central in the south). It continues east as the road separatingBenoni Central from Benoni's northern suburbs (where it meets theR23 just north of the town centre).[1]
It continues eastwards, bypassingDaveyton (where it meets theR51) andEtwatwa, to leave theCity of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and enter theMpumalanga Province.[1]
InMpumalanga, the N12 continues as a dual carriageway freeway and the first town it bypasses is the town ofDelmas. From theR50 Delmas exit, the N12 goes for another 60 km east, meeting theR42 and bypassingOgies, to entereMalahleni (Witbank), where it passes through the southern suburbs.[1]
The N12 marks its end at the point where it merges with theN4 highway (Maputo Corridor) (eastbound only) in the eastern part of Witbank.[1]
As a result of theGauteng Freeway Improvement Project, a portion of the freeway section of the N12 in theGreater Johannesburg Area, from theR553 Golden Highway off-ramp in-between the Misgund and Diepkloof interchanges to theR51 road off-ramp inDaveyton, was effectively declared ane-toll highway (withopen road tolling) from 3 December 2013 onwards.[6]
The South African government announced on 28 March 2024[7] that e-tolls in Gauteng would officially be shut down on 11 April 2024 at midnight.[8][9] As a result of the e-toll discontinuation, the N12 route is now a toll-free route.
TheN18 road from the Botswana Border, passing throughMahikeng andVryburg of theNorth West Province toWarrenton, together with the N12 toBeaufort West and theN1 road toCape Town in theWestern Cape are collectively declared part ofTrans African Highway no. 4 (Cairo-Cape Town Highway), which linksCairo withCape Town.
The Meiringspoort section in theSwartberg betweenDe Rust andKlaarstroom follows the gorge cut by the Groot River. It is a scenic drive crossing twelve olddrifts (replaced by bridges today). FromDe Rust one will cross the drifts in the following order: Spook drift, Boesman drift, Nooiensboom drift, Dubble Drif se Draai, Ou tol drift, Wa drift, Witfontein se drift, Ontploffings drift, Perskeboom drift, Wasgat drift, Eerste/Laaste drift.[10][11]
