The M5 is a long metropolitan route in the

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, South Africa and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The majo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It starts in

KwaMashu KwaMashu is a township (South Africa), township north of Durban, South Africa. The name is in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell and means ''Place of Marshall''. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma t ...

in the north-western townships of

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. It passes through the townships of

Newlands East Newlands East is a township located 17 km north-west of Durban in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Geography Newlands East is bordered by Newlands West to the west and south, Durban North to the east and KwaMashu to the north ...

Newlands West Newlands West is a township located 15 km (by road) north-west of Durban in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Af ...

Ntuzuma Ntuzuma is a town in eThekwini in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. With a population of 114,231 (Census 2001), Ntuzuma is the youngest of the four "PINK" (Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu) programme townships, and was built by th ...

and

KwaDabeka KwaDabeka is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located north-west of Durban and means "at the Dabeka location". Geography KwaDabeka is situated approximately 24 km north-west of Durban and 6 km north-east of New Germany and ...

. It then passes through the industrial town of New Germany and the leafy towns of

Pinetown Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m). History Pin ...

and

Queensburgh Queensburgh () is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated inland (southwest) from Durban and now forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban metropolitan area. History The hilly area was settled by people working in Durban who ...

before entering Durban and ending with the R102 in the Umbilo industrial area.

Route

New Bridge over Umgeni River - panoramio (1)

The northern terminus of the M5 is at the M25 (to Inanda)/

R102 The R.102 (originally referred to as Project H) was a British airship planned in 1930 but never built. The development of R.102 resulted from the Imperial Airship Scheme, when it became apparent that the R100 and R101 airships then being buil ...

(to

) off-ramp with the

(to

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

) in the Duffs Road suburb of

. It heads south-west as a dual-carriageway roadway named Dumisani Makhaye Drive and forms an intersection with the M45 Queen Nandi Drive. Turning east it passes the townships of KwaMashu and Newlands East. Here it intersects with the M21 Inanda Road and proceeds to head west-southwest between the townships of KwaMashu,

and

where it gains freeway status with the first off-ramp being the 'Newlands Expressway'. Just after Newlands Expressway, it turns north-west and ends being a freeway when it enters

at the uMngeni River. Here it intersects 'Ulwandle Drive' and regains freeway status, turning south-east through KwaDabeka. The M5 has 2 off-ramps for the remaining length of its freeway section which include 'Wyebank Road' and '1st Avenue'. After the 1st Avenue off-ramp, The M5 becomes Dinkelman Road, turning south towards New Germany and ends as a freeway at Posselt Road. After the Posselt Road intersection, it becomes Otto Volek Road passing through the industrial town of New Germany before crossing over the M19 freeway which connects to Pinetown CBD and Westville at the exit 14 off-ramp south of New Germany. After the M19 intersection, the M5 enters

and intersects with the M31 'Josiah Gumede Road' where the M5 becomes Stapleton Road. Proceeding south-south-west, it crosses over the M13 freeway which connects to Westville at the exit 16 off-ramp in the Sarnia suburb of Pinetown. It turns left at a T-junction into Underwood Road, heading south-west and crossing over the N3 freeway. After the Baker Road intersection, it becomes Main Road where it turns south-south-east, passing through the Moseley suburb of Pinetown. It crosses the M7 freeway which connects to Pinetown Central and Durban at the exit 12 off-ramp south of Moseley and enters

at its Northdene suburb and turns east-south-east. As it traverses through Queensburgh, the road acts as the main road for the Escombe and Malvern suburbs and road becomes Sarnia Road at the Bellville Road intersection. It leaves Queensburgh to enter the city of

at its Hillary suburb, turns south-east and crosses the N2 freeway. After crossing the N2, it turns north-east to enter Bellair, and turns south-east passing through the suburbs of Bellair and Sea View. It turns north-east again where it passes over the M7 again at an off-ramp in Rossburgh and continues north-northeast through Umbilo Industrial. It ends at an intersection with the

'Umbilo Road' which connects to the

CBD and

Isipingo Isipingo is a town situated south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and currently forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The town is named after the Siphingo River, which in turn is thought to be named (in the Zulu language) f ...

New Dumisani Makhaye Drive

The Dumisani Makhaye Road (also known as P577 or MR577/Main Road 577) section of the M5 was opened on 2 December 2017 by former president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

for public use. The R1.3 billion project was the biggest road infrastructure development in

since 2012 and also the most complex road project to be undertaken in years. It formed part of government’s nationwide programme to upgrade infrastructure. Dumisani Makhaye Drive spans the uMngeni River and provides a strategic link between Duffs Road in KwaMashu and Dinkelman in New Germany. Significantly, the road will serve as a new alternative route to the

King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. Located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors to passen ...

for traffic coming from the

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

and

areas, which will ease traffic congestion on the

EB Cloete Interchange The EB Cloete Interchange near Durban in South Africa is the interchange between the two national roads that pass through Durban: the N2 and N3. It has been given various nicknames, the most famous one is "Spaghetti Junction". The N3 is the b ...

(Spaghetti Junction), it also cuts off 16 kilometres for traffic using the N3 to connect to the N2, makes the communities of Newlands, KwaMashu, Inanda, KwaDabeka, Clermont and Pinetown more closely connected and will help eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid-based spatial planning. The road is named after the late struggle hero, Dumisani Makhaye, who dedicated his life to the fight against apartheid.

References

{{reflist Metropolitan Routes in Durban