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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained bySANRAL | ||||
| Length | 517 km (321 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Southwest end |  N2 nearGeorge | |||
| Major intersections |  N12 near George N10 nearMiddelburg | |||
| Northeast end |  N1 atColesberg | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | South Africa | |||
| Provinces | Western Cape,Eastern Cape,Free State | |||
| Major cities | ||||
| Highway system | ||||
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TheN9 is anational route inSouth Africa that connectsGeorge with theN1 atColesberg, viaGraaff-Reinet andMiddelburg.[1]
The N9 begins just south-east ofGeorge in theWestern Cape at an intersection with theN2. It runsconcurrently with theN12 through the center of George and then north over theOuteniqua Pass. At the top of the pass, at the intersection with theR62, the N9 and N12 split, with the N12 being cosigned with the R62 northwards towardsOudtshoorn while the N9 turns east, cosigned with the R62, to run along the northern side of theOuteniqua Mountains and over Potjiesberg Pass.
After 71 kilometres, the N9 and the R62 split, with the R62 becoming its own road eastwards while the N9 turns northwards and enters the town ofUniondale, before becoming theBuyspoort Pass and proceeding onwards toWillowmore in theEastern Cape.
From Willowmore, the N9 travels across theEastern CapeKaroo as thePerdepoort Pass, throughAberdeen toGraaff-Reinet. At Aberdeen, the N9 is joined by theR61 and they are concurrent through Graaff-Reinet (where they meet theR63) and for the next 46 kilometers before the R61 becomes its own road eastwards nearNieu-Bethesda.
From Graaff-Reinet it crosses theSneeuberge through Naudesberg Pass andLootsberg Pass toMiddelburg, where it meets theN10 south of the town centre. The N10 joins the N9 to form an eastern bypass around Middelburg before proceeding northwards out of the town. After beingconcurrent for 24 kilometers, the N10 becomes its own road north-west towardsDe Aar. The N9 continues northwards, entering theNorthern Cape, throughNoupoort, to end at an intersection with theN1 just outsideColesberg (west of the town centre).
Anurban legend in the "vanishing hitchhiker" tradition arose after a girl named Marie Charlotte Roux was killed in an auto accident not far from Uniondale onEaster Sunday of 1968. According to press reports, beginning in 1973 and for years afterward around the anniversary of her death, the girl's spirithitchhiked along the road and allegedly vanished after being picked up by various drivers. According to folkloristSigrid Schmidt:
The South African press played its role in the game of legend-telling perfectly. It transformed the legend into an official report...[until] a nationwide Uniondale legend was formed by the press, and people were left expecting the ghost girl to hitchhike at the same spot next Easter.[2]
