The M7, also named Jakes Gerwel Drive (previously Vanguard Drive; renamed on 18 January 2015), is a

limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

and metropolitan route in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remo ...

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 connects Acacia Park with Rocklands on the

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

Coast via the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats ( af, Die Kaapse Vlakte) is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lie ...

Route

The M7 begins at an interchange with the N1 Highway and the southern terminus of the N7 Highway adjacent to Acacia Park. The M7 begins by heading southwards as Jakes Gerwel Drive (formerly Vanguard Drive), forming the western boundary of Goodwood, to meet the

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 ...

(Voortrekker Road). It then separates Thornton in the west from the GrandWest Casino in the east before meeting the

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

(Viking Way) and separating the two sides of the Epping Industrial Area. It then crosses the

N2 Highway The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of makes it the l ...

and proceeds south-south-east for 9 kilometres, through Vanguard, bypassing Manenberg, through

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...

(bypassing its Horticultural Area), to reach

Mitchell's Plain Mitchells Plain is a large township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs ...

, where it meets the southern terminus of the R300 Freeway (Cape Flats Freeway; Peninsula Expressway). It continues southwards from the R300 junction as the western boundary of Mitchell's Plain to reach Rocklands on the

coast, where it meets the M32 (Spine Road) before reaching its end at an intersection with the R310 (Baden Powell Drive) adjacent to Mnandi Beach.

References

Roads in Cape Town Highways in South Africa Streets and roads of Cape Town Metropolitan routes in Cape Town {{SouthAfrica-road-stub