The M81 is a short metropolitan route in

Greater Johannesburg The term Greater Johannesburg may mean: * The area governed by the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (GJMC) from 1995 to 2000. * The current City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, which superseded the GJMC in 2000 with the incorpor ...

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

Craighall Park Craighall Park is a suburb of Johannesburg, 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 Atlanti ...

with

Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an inde ...

. For its entire route, it is named Winnie Mandela Drive (formerly William Nicol Drive; renamed on 26 September 2023).

Route

The M81 begins as Winnie Mandela Drive (formerly William Nicol Drive) just north of

at the intersection with

Jan Smuts Avenue Jan Smuts Avenue is a major street in Johannesburg, South Africa. It begins in Randburg, and passes through important business areas like Rosebank. It passes the Johannesburg Zoo, Zoo Lake and Wits University before becoming Bertha Street, an ...

( M27) (by the Hyde Park Corner Shopping Mall). It heads north, passing through the suburbs of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

, Sandhurst and Hurlingham. In

Parkmore Parkmore is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region B of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local gover ...

, the M75 Sandton Drive intercepts the route as a T-junction, the main route to

Sandton City Sandton City is a large shopping mall situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built and owned by property development company Rapp and Maister, in partnership with brothers Hilliard and Eli Leibowitz, and was later taken over by ...

. Turning north-west, the route crosses the

Braamfontein Spruit The Braamfontein Spruit (from the Afrikaans for "spring of brambles") is the longest stream in Johannesburg, South Africa. It originates in Barnato Park High School, Braamfontein. It is covered and canalised near its source, but once the river run ...

in Hurlingham Manor and is intersected at a T-junction with the westbound Republic Road ( M13), the main road to

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng, Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roo ...

. It turns north and passes through

Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...

and into

. Here it crosses the major road junctions of Main ( M71) and Grosvenor Roads ( M64). It continues north-westwards crossing Bryanston Drive ( M74) and shortly reaches the

N1 Western Bypass The Western Bypass is a section of the N1 and the Johannesburg Ring Road located in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Known at the time as the ''Concrete Highway'', the freeway was initially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city cen ...

junction no. 95. Here, the M81 ends but Winnie Mandela Drive continues north-north-west as the R511.

References

Streets and roads of Johannesburg Metropolitan routes in Johannesburg {{SouthAfrica-road-stub