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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained bySANRAL,City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality[1] | ||||
| Length | 2,255 km (1,401 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  M62 inCape Town | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end |   N11 /N17 inErmelo | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | South Africa | |||
| Provinces | ||||
| Major cities |
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| Highway system | ||||
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TheN2 is anational route inSouth Africa that runs fromCape Town throughGeorge,Gqeberha,East London,Mthatha,Port Shepstone andDurban toErmelo.[2] It is the main highway along theIndian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of 2,255 kilometres (1,401 mi) makes it the longestnumbered route inSouth Africa.[3]
Prior to 1970, the N2 designation only applied to the route from Cape Town to Durban.[4]
There are plans to realign the N2 national route fromPort Shepstone toMthatha along a shorter stretch of road that passes throughPort Edward,Lusikisiki andPort St. Johns.[5][6][7] The project was initially scheduled for completion in 2024 and is expected to reduce the length of the route by 85 kilometres (53 mi).[8][9] Combined with the existing N2 route from Mthatha toEast London, the realigned route will form theWild Coast Toll Route.[5][6][7][10]
The N2 begins in centralCape Town at the northern end of Buitengracht Street (M62), outside the entrance to theVictoria & Alfred Waterfront. The first section of the N2 isshared with the beginning of theN1; it is a four-laneelevated freeway that runs along a strip of land between the city centre and thePort of Cape Town. On the eastern edge of the city centre the two roads split, and the N2 turns south as Nelson Mandela Boulevard (formerly Eastern Boulevard), crossing above the yards and approach tracks ofCape Town railway station.
Leaving theCentral Business District (CBD), the N2 descends to ground level after the R102 Christiaan Barnard on-ramp inWoodstock. Continuing roughly east-southeast, the N2 intersects a few roads in the Woodstock area, most notably Roodebloem Road, which provides access to theM4 Main Road and University Estate, located on the north-western slopes ofDevil's Peak. After leaving the Woodstock area, the N2 meets theM3 Phillip Kgosana Drive, from the southern City Bowl. AtopMowbray Ridge inObservatory, these two roads merge into a massive 9-lane highway and bend around theUniversity of Cape Town Medical Campus andGroote Schuur Hospital before splitting at the bottom of the ridge, with the M3 running toward the University of Cape Town and theSouthern Suburbs. This intersection, calledHospital Bend, was the scene of frequent bottlenecks and accidents due to the lack of pre-selection lanes. However, this stretch of road has been extensively upgraded and made safer.[11]
After Hospital Bend, the N2 heads east as Settler's Way and forms the border betweenObservatory andMowbray, intersecting theM4 Main Road (westbound only),M57 Liesbeek Parkway,M5 Black River Highway, and Raapenberg Road. After leaving the Southern Suburbs, the N2 travels across theCape Flats as a six-lane freeway towardsSomerset West. It travels just past the southern end of the main runway atCape Town International Airport and crosses theM7 andR300 highways (both of which link the N2 withMitchells Plain in the south andBellville andBrackenfell in the north). After the R300, the N2 becomes a four-lane freeway, passing nearbyKhayelitsha andMacassar. It enters theHelderberg region where it passes throughSomerset West and ceases to be a freeway after theR44 intersection, which links the N2 withStellenbosch and the Winelands in the north. Here it passes through several intersections withtraffic lights, which cause frequent congestion. After Somerset West, it bypassesStrand,Gordon's Bay, andSir Lowry's Pass Village.
After Sir Lowry's Pass Village, the N2 climbsSir Lowry's Pass to enter theOverberg region. It passes near the town ofGrabouw on theHottentots-Holland plateau before descending theHouwhoek Pass toBotrivier. It then passes across the agricultural plains through the towns ofCaledon,Riviersonderend,Swellendam andRiversdale to re-approach the coast atMossel Bay, which marks the beginning of theGarden Route.
Just west ofMossel Bay, the N2 again becomes a divided freeway, and remains one as far as the intersection with theN9/N12 just outsideGeorge. From there, it travels across Kaaiman's Pass toWilderness and on toKnysna andPlettenberg Bay. After Plettenberg Bay, a section of the road istolled as theTsitsikamma Toll Route, primarily because of theBloukrans Bridge (crossing theBloukrans River). An alternative route (part of theR102) used to run throughNature's Valley but this was closed in November 2007 after flood damage.[12] The Bloukrans Bridge marks the border with theEastern Cape.
After crossing the Bloukrans Bridge, the N2 becomes the Sunshine Coast Road, passing through the Southern edge of theTsitsikamma Nature Reserve, and regains freeway status between Nompumelelo and Witsiebos. It runs eastward as a two-lane single carriageway highway, bypassing the resort towns ofJeffreys Bay andSt. Francis Bay, as well as the town ofHumansdorp. It becomes a four-lane dual carriageway freeway at theVan Stadens Bridge, which marks its entrance into theNelson Mandela Bay Municipality.[13] It proceeds eastwards to the city ofGqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).
After theVan Stadens Bridge, the N2 meets theR102, which provides access toKwaNobuhle andKariega (formerly Uitenhage) via theR334. It then enters Gqeberha as a four-lane dual carriageway freeway. It runs eastward past the suburbs of Kabega Park and Tulbargh before making a north-easterly turn just after theR102 Kragga Kamma Road/Cape Road intersection in More Grove. It then bypasses the suburbs of Newton Park and Korsten before meeting theR75 at the Commercial Road Intersection, with the R75 linking to the Gqeberha city centre in the south and to Kariega andGraaff-Reinet in the north.
It then passes through northern Sidwell, intersecting the M8 Kempston Drive (which links with the New Brighton and KwaZakhele suburbs in the north), and the M4 Settlers Way Highway (which links the N2 with the CBD andChief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in the south and the industrial areas of Deal Party in the north). The N2 then leaves the city of Gqeberha running northwards towardsColchester, adjacent to theIndian Ocean, first passing across the estuarine area of the Swartkops River before passing throughBluewater Bay. After Bluewater Bay, it meets theR335 (which provides access toMotherwell) and bypasses theCoega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), with a major intersection with Neptune Road linking the harbour with the N2. It loses freeway status after theR334 Addo South Gate intersection, and becomes a two-lane single-carriageway highway after passing throughColchester.
After Colchester, the N2 leaves the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and turns north-eastwards, meeting the southern terminus of theN10 (which heads northwards towardsMiddelburg) and the western terminus of theR72 (an alternative route toEast London) before moving away from the coast towardsMakhanda.
After passing around Grahamstown (also known as Makhanda) on a bypass, the N2 passes through the formerCiskei, includingPeddie, to enter theBuffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
AtQonce (King William's Town) in Buffalo City, it meets theR63 and after several traffic-light intersections, the N2 turns east-south-east towards the coast, meeting it atEast London.
The N2 becomes a four-lane dual carriageway road after leavingQonce, and regains freeway status at the La Rochelle Street intersection inBerlin, just outside East London. It runs past Fort Jackson and theMdantsane township. It then enters the city of East London as it passes to the north of Amalinda. After the M4 Amalinda Main Road intersection, it runs north of Vincent, intersecting theM1 Western Avenue (which links the CBD to the outlying rural areas situated along theNahoon River). It then descends into the Nahoon River Valley, meeting the southern terminus of theN6 and the eastern terminus of theR72 after just crossing the Nahoon River. The N2 then passes through Beacon Bay, partially intersecting the M8 Beacon Bay Road, and exits the city of East London before bypassingGonubie to the north of the city. The N2 then becomes a two-lane single-carriageway highway after theR102/M10 Main Road intersection (Gonubie Interchange), which is also the proposed start of theWild Coast Toll Road.[14] It then continues as a freeway until shortly after the R102 Brakfontein intersection, after which it leaves theBuffalo City Metro.
After East London, the N2 turns again towards the interior in a northeasterly direction to avoid the difficult terrain of theWild Coast. It passes through the formerTranskei and its former capital,Mthatha, where it meets theR61 route (an alternative route toPort Shepstone). There are plans for the N2 to run as a four-lane dual carriageway highway from Viedgesville to the Ngqeleni Village turn off, bypassing Mthatha to the south, and then continuing eastwards on the R61, as part of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road.[15] After passing Mthatha, the N2 continues north-east through the towns ofQumbu,Mount Frere (KwaBhaca) andMount Ayliff. NearKokstad, the N2 climbs Brook's Nek to enter the province ofKwaZulu-Natal.[16]
The N2 entersKwaZulu-Natal atop Brooks Nek, after which it bypassesKokstad to the south and meets theR56 fromMatatiele. The N2 and the R56 are co-signed for 43 kilometres (27 mi) eastwards until which the R56 splits from the N2 at Stafford's Post. The N2 then runs east-south-east past the rural towns ofHarding andIzingolweni (eZinqoleni), to enterPort Shepstone from the west through its suburb ofMarburg, meeting the eastern terminus of theR61 highway (an alternative route from Mthatha) at the Oribi Toll Plaza (Marburg Interchange). This interchange with the R61 is to be the eastern end of theN2 Wild Coast Toll Route fromEast London viaMthatha andPort Edward.
The N2 then turns to the north at the Oribi Toll Plaza to become theSouth Coast Highway (taking over from the R61), first running as a dual carriageway freeway for 4 km (2.5 mi), then losing dual carriageway status after theUmtentweni off-ramp (where it ceases to be a toll road), before regaining dual carriageway status just afterHibberdene. It passes through the rural areas of Southern KwaZulu-Natal, with the rural towns ofMthwalume,Umzinto andDududu, and the resort towns ofPennington,Park Rynie andScottburgh lying to the west and east of the N2, respectively.
The N2 enters the eThekwini Metropolitan Area 60 km (37 mi) south ofDurban as a dual carriageway freeway just north ofScottburgh. It runs past the towns ofUmkomaas (eMkhomazi) andUmgababa, before entering the built-up urban area of eThekwini atKingsburgh andAmanzimtoti. It runs pastIsipingo and the oldDurban International Airport, before meeting the southern terminus of theM4 freeway atUmlazi; with the M4 providing access to the Durban CBD. After the M4 interchange, the N2 runs as an eight-lane dual carriageway freeway around the city of Durban known as theOuter Ring Road, bypassing the suburbs ofMobeni,Chatsworth, Sarnia, Ridgeview and Chesterville, with theM1 Higginson Highway intersection and theM7 Solomon Mahlangu Drive interchange providing access to these suburbs as well as the town ofQueensburgh.
After leaving Chesterville, the N2 meets theN3 highway at theEB Cloete Interchange (locally known asSpaghetti Junction) atWestville. It then passes through the suburbs of Clare Hills andReservoir Hills, meeting theM19 Umgeni Drive at a large intersection just outside of Reservoir Hills. It then continues northwards past Parlock, Riverhorse Valley, Briardene and Sea Cow Lake, with the M43 Queen Nandi Drive and the R102KwaMashu Highway providing access to these places, thereafter exiting the city of Durban and continuing towardsMount Edgecombe anduMhlanga, meeting theM41 at theMount Edgecombe Interchange where theDurban Outer Ring Road ends.
It then runs to the east ofVerulam and to the west ofeMdloti (formerly Umdloti), passing by theKing Shaka International Airport inLa Mercy (where theM65 provides access). The airport off-ramp marks the beginning of theKwaZulu-Natal North Coast Toll Road. After the airport, it is tolled atoThongathi (formerly Tongaat) before leavingeThekwini.
After eThekwini, the N2 runs towardMtunzini, passing throughBallito before being tolled again at the Mvoti Toll Plaza beforeKwaDukuza (formerly Stanger). It meets theR74 nearKwaDukuza. It then continues as a four-lane single carriageway highway and passes through sugar cane plantations on theKwaZulu-Natal North Coast. It is tolled for the final time at Mtunzini and meets theR34, which provides access toRichards Bay to the east andEmpangeni andUlundi to the west. Just after the R34 off-ramp, the N2 ceases to be a dual carriageway and turns north, moving away from the coast into the heart ofZululand, where it bypassesGreater St Lucia Wetlands Park to the west (where theR618 provides access) and runs past the town ofMkuze before turning to the north-west and running close to the border ofEswatini, passing the town ofPongola.
After leavingPongola, the N2 makes a direct line forPiet Retief (eMkhondo) and meets theR33 to be co-signed with it as the main road through the town centre before splitting 12 km north of the town. It then heads north-west toErmelo, where it enters as Voortrekker Lane and terminates at a junction with theN11 (De Emigratie Street) in the town centre, just south of the N11's intersection with theN17.
The total length of the road is 2,255 kilometres (1,401 mi). Although the dual carriageway sections of the N2 are discontinuous, when combined — including segments such as Cape Town to Somerset West (44 km), George to Mossel Bay (51 km), Gqeberha (70 km), East London (43 km), Port Shepstone (7 km), Hibberdene to KwaDukuza (165 km), and Mtunzini Toll Plaza to Richards Bay (35 km) — the N2 technically has the longest total length of dual carriageway among South African national roads.[3]
Toll plazas on the N2 include:[17]
Heavy rains in 2006 triggered a mud-slide on the Kaaiman's pass section of the N2 betweenGeorge andWilderness. This caused the road to be temporarily closed from 26 August. As a result of the slide, a section of roadway sagged and large cracks appeared on the road surface. After an inspection by a team of engineers a single lane was reopened on 29 August for vehicles with a gross mass of under 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb).
An alternative route following theSaasveld road was put into use, but this road only allows for a single lane of traffic and light vehicles. Heavy vehicles have to take an alternative route via the R62 andLangkloof pass effectively lengthening the distance from George to Wilderness from 11 to over 60 km (6.8 to 38 mi).[18] The road has since reopened.
Traffic on the N2 has also been disrupted on numerous occasions because of protests. On 10 September 2007, residents ofJoe Slovo Informal Settlement blockaded the N2 Freeway in Cape Town nearLanga. Police responded with rubber bullets, injuring over 30 residents.[19][20] On 4 December 2008, a few thousand residents ofeMachambini, betweenKwaDukuza andRichards Bay inKwaZulu-Natal, blockaded the N2 Freeway in protest against the proposedAmaZulu World Themepark. Police opened fire and injured about 23 residents and arrested about 10.[21]
On 20 October 2012, a section of the N2 was closed after heavy rainfall caused a collapse about 20 km (12 mi) outsideGrahamstown.[22]
On 5 November 2024 around 11h00, a section of the N2 was indefinitely closed due to a section of bridge partially collapsing on the southbound carriageway crossing the Embokodweni river next to the Amanzimtoti country club. One of the concrete bearings supporting the roadway failed, causing the surface of the southbound lanes to become uneven. The road closure has caused severe traffic disruptions intoAmanzimtoti,Prospecton,Isipingo and the surrounding areas. Motorists travelling on the N2 southbound were being diverted onto the R102 and M35. It is also suspected that previous damage from the2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods went undetected according to local officials.[23][24][25][26][27]
There are plans to realign the N2 national route fromPort Shepstone toMthatha, on a shorter stretch of road, and designate the entire stretch fromPort Edward through Mthatha toEast London as atoll road.[28][29][30] The project was started in September 2016.[31] It was initially scheduled for completion in 2024 and this new N2 route will take over the entire section of the currentR61 route from Port Shepstone to Mthatha,[32] with realignment between Port Edward andLusikisiki (providing a shorter stretch of road between the two towns).[32]
This new route, known as the Wild Coast Toll Route (N2WCTR), will extend fromEast London (Gonubie Interchange) toPort Shepstone (Oribi Toll Plaza)[33] and extend further north-east throughPark Rynie to theIsipingo Interchange, south ofDurban.[33][10][8] There will be two new "greenfields" sections, one between Ndwalane (near Port St. Johns) and Lusikisiki, and the other between Lusikisiki and Port Edward. The latter greenfields section will provide a shorter and more direct route betweenPort Edward andLusikisiki (via theMtentu Bridge[34][35] andMsikaba Bridge[36][37]) while the current R61 passes throughFlagstaff andBizana on the route between the two towns. The greenfields sections will include two new toll plazas, namely the Mthentu Toll Plaza between Lusikisiki and Port Edward, and the Ndwalane Toll Plaza just outside ofPort St. Johns.[29][30] There were also initially plans to place two toll plazas on the stretch fromEast London toMthatha: the Ngobozi Toll Plaza just north of the Great Kei Bridge and the Candu Toll Plaza just north-east ofIdutywa.[38] Plans to toll this section between East London and Mthatha have been cancelled.[39]
In this project, there are plans to widen the N2 from Port St. Johns toEast London to a four-lane undivided highway. The new greenfields section between Lusikisiki and Port Edward will also include a four-lane undivided highway, with a four-lane dual carriageway through Lusikisiki. Bypasses around the towns ofButterworth (Gcuwa),Idutywa and Mthatha are to be constructed after the completion of the new toll road. According to Traveller24, this new route will be around 85 km (53 mi) shorter than the current N2 (and 69 km shorter than the current R61) and will be a faster route by about 3 hours for heavy vehicles (1½ hours for light vehicles).[8][9] Once this new 'Wild Coast Highway' is complete, the distance between Durban and East London will be reduced to 573 km (356 mi) and the overall route between Durban and Cape Town will be reduced to 1,621 km (1,007 mi), making the newer N2 the shorter route between Durban and Cape Town. The old N2 route passing throughHarding,Kokstad andKwaBhaca would then be designated as theR102.[40]
The new greenfields sections in the Eastern Cape were categorized into seven packages.[41] Package 1 is from Ndwalane to Ntafufu, Package 2 is from Ntafufu to the Bambisana turn-off, Package 3 is from the Bambisana turn-off to Lingeni, Package 4 is from Lingeni to the Msikaba Bridge, Package 5 is from the Msikaba Bridge to the Mtentu Bridge, Package 6 is from the Mtentu Bridge to Kulumbe and Package 7 is from Kulumbe to theC. H. Mitchell Bridge.[41]
As of 2021, the road signs on the section of the R61 from Port Shepstone to Port Edward have already been changed to signs indicating the N2, indicating that this road from the Oribi Toll Plaza in Port Shepstone southwards will officially no-longer be designated as the R61.[42] Also, as of August 2024, parts of the road in theEastern Cape are under construction,[43][36][37][44] including Package 4 and Package 5.[45][46] TheMsikaba Bridge is expected to be completed by the end of 2025[47][37] while theMtentu Bridge, after several delays, is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.[34][35][39]
South Africa's national road agency,SANRAL, also initially planned to do some work on the existing 100 km (62 mi) section of the N2 highway fromPort Shepstone toDurban[33][10] as part of this project, including installing toll plazas atPark Rynie[48][33] (midway between Port Shepstone and Durban; just north of theR612 off-ramp) and atIsipingo[48][33][49] (in the southern part of Durban; where theDurban Outer Ring Road begins). SANRAL received opposition from theeThekwini Metropolitan Municipality council as well as several businesses in the area over the proposed Isipingo Toll Plaza due to concerns over expenses for drivers in Durban South and traffic in the same area.[49][33][48] Those businesses also didn't want any toll plazas found within KwaZulu-Natal to be used to finance the construction of the newgreenfields section of road (betweenPort St. Johns and theC. H. Mitchell Bridge), which is in a different province (Eastern Cape).[50] Several companies in the area, led byToyota South Africa, took SANRAL to court, and the proposed Isipingo tollgate was cancelled.[51][52] The decision was made to scrap the plan to build any toll gate on the KwaZulu-Natal section of the Wild Coast Highway, which meant that the plan to construct a toll plaza at Park Rynie was also cancelled.[52][53]
TheAmadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) has also expressed issues with the planned road and the Wild Coast region in which the road is to pass through, stating that it would divide the communal farming and grazing lands.[50] They advised SANRAL to reroute the proposed section between theC. H. Mitchell Bridge and theMtentu Bridge inland, away from the coastline.[50] They held a protest in October 2024 at the Mtentu Bridge site.[54]
Media related toN2 road (South Africa) at Wikimedia Commons
