N4 (South Africa)

National road in South Africa

The N4 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Skilpadshek on the Botswana border, past Rustenburg, Pretoria, eMalahleni and Mbombela, to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border. The entire route is a toll road. The N4 west of Pretoria, named the Platinum Highway, forms the South African section of the Trans Kalahari Corridor, which runs from Walvis Bay to Pretoria, while the N4 east of Pretoria forms the Maputo Corridor, which runs from Pretoria to Maputo. Together, they link the east and west coasts of Southern Africa. The eastern section from Pretoria to Middelburg is a four lane dual carriageway tolled freeway opened in 1968, with toll gates at Donkerhoek and just west of Middelburg. The freeway from eMalahleni to Middelburg was one of the first concrete freeways built in South Africa and the Ultra City was the first service station built on the sides of a freeway. At eMalahleni (formerly Witbank), the freeway converges with the N12 from Johannesburg. An alternative route to the N4, known as the R104, runs between Pretoria and Wonderfontein (east of Middelburg). Between eMalahleni and Middelburg the alternative is the R555. After Wonderfontein the toll road runs along the old alignment of the N4 until the Lebombo Border Post. From Middelburg to Belfast the N4 is a single carriageway highway with two lanes in both directions; thereafter, the N4 is a wide shouldered single carriageway highway. The section east of Middelburg has been significantly improved, including a northern bypass of Mbombela, After the interchange with the R555 and R544 routes south of the eMalahleni city centre, the N4 continues eastwards, meeting the eastern end of the N12 national route from Johannesburg (westbound only),), crossing to the northern side of the parallel Crocodile River, passing by Riverside (where it meets the R37), before joining the old alignment east of the city and crossing back to the south of the Crocodile River. From Mbombela, the N4 continues eastwards for 100 kilometres, following the Crocodile River (which makes up the entire southern border of the Kruger National Park), meeting the north eastern terminus of the R38 road at Kaapmuiden and passing by the Nkomazi Toll Plaza just east of Kaapmuiden, through Malalane, to reach the Lebombo Border Post with Mozambique at Komatipoort, where it crosses the Komati River and becomes the road which provides access to Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique (EN4).

Prior to 1990, the N4 was the section from Mozambique to the Proefplaas Interchange with the N1. However, two western sections of the N4 have been made since then:

Originally the N4 ran through the Pretoria CBD on regular city streets, then exited the CBD westbound on Vom Hagen Street towards Hartbeespoort Dam as the Magalies Freeway, a toll road (one toll gate at either end; only one off ramp along this stretch), completed in the early 1990s, before following the R511/R513/R512 regional routes over the Magaliesberg to meet the single carriageway freeway built in the 1980s to a point northwest of Pretoria. All that remains of this routing of the N4 is the short 20 km Magalies Toll Freeway (designated as the M4 Metropolitan Route of Pretoria), a four lane tolled dual carriageway motorway that runs from the Vom Hagen Street/R55 junction in Pretoria West, past Atteridgeville, to Pelindaba, where the freeway abruptly ends with a junction with the R511. It is clear from the geometry of the western terminus that the N4 was to continue, but the necessary link from the end of the freeway at Hartbeespoort to the N4 extension west of Hartbeespoort has never been completed, even though it had been planned since the 1980s. An anomaly is the bridge over Hartbeespoort Dam near Kosmos Village which has the R512 route number, and the two obvious deviations off the alignment at either end of the bridge where the N4 was clearly intended to continue onward. Where the N4 used to run through Pretoria, this has been renamed the M2 (from the N1 interchange to the M5 junction) and M4 (from the M5 junction to Hartbeespoort). The 1st section of the old route through Pretoria, from the N1 interchange to the M5 junction, is 2 one way streets (Pretorius Street westwards and Francis Baard Street, formerly Schoeman Street, eastwards) and is part of the M2 route of Pretoria. At the M5 junction, the old route leaves the M2 and joins the M5 route of Pretoria, which is also two one way streets (Steve Biko Street northwards and Hamilton Street southwards), for a short section. Just after crossing to the northern side of the parallel east west R104 route, the old route leaves the M5 and resumes going westwards. From the M5 junction, it is the M4 route of Pretoria and it is once again two one way streets (Johannes Ramokhoase Street, formerly Proes Street, westwards and Struben Street eastwards). At the junction with the M1 route of Pretoria (Es'kia Mphahlele Drive), the M4 stops being two one way streets and becomes one road westwards named Vom Hagen Street. At the junction with the R55 route, Vom Hagen Street (M4) becomes the Magalies Toll Freeway and has the Quagga Toll Gate after this intersection. The Pampoen Nek Pass is an extension of the R512 route, starting from the R512's interchange with the R560 route (just after the R512 bridge crossing over the Hartbeespoort Dam's western edge west of Broederstroom) and going north for 6 kilometres up to the R512's interchange with the N4 south of Brits, where the Pampoen Nek Highway joins the N4 Westbound. So, for motorists heading for Sun City or Rustenburg (or the western side of Brits), this route will not only save substantial time for motorists travelling from the south of Hartbeespoort, but will also alleviate traffic congestion in Hartbeespoort, especially on the R511 route and the routes around Damdoryn. On 3 September 2020, the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, together with the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) and the Madibeng Local Municipality, officially opened the new road. During the opening of the freeway, SANRAL said that the second phase of the project will be to link the Pampoen Nek Highway to the M4 Freeway (Magalies Toll Route) to Pretoria. under license from the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). They operate the entire route from Pretoria to the Skilpadshek border. The N4 East toll route (Maputo Corridor; east of Pretoria) is currently operated by Trans African Concessions (TRAC) under license from SANRAL. They operate the entire route from the M10 (Solomon Mahlangu Drive) off ramp approximately 10 kilometres east of the Proefplaas Interchange to the Lebombo border. TRAC also operates the short continuation of the road from the Lebombo border post to Maputo (EN4).