The N18 is a national route in

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

which runs from Warrenton through

Vryburg Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,400 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial and agricultural heartland of the di ...

and

Mahikeng Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West Province (South Africa), North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape ...

Ramatlabama Ramatlabama (or Ramatlhabama) is a village and railway station north of Mafikeng, in the North West province of South Africa. It is located on the border with Botswana, and serves as a border post for road and rail traffic. At the time of the ...

on the border with

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

. The N18 National Route of

is part of

Trans-African Highway Network The Trans-African Highway network comprises transcontinental road projects in Africa being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union in conjunction with re ...

no. 4 ( Cairo-Cape Town Highway), which connects

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

with

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Route

Northern Cape

The N18 begins as a t-junction with the N12 in Warrenton. The road heads west as the town's main road, leaving it to the north-west and crossing the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

before turning northwards. Passing the Ganspan Airport to the west, the N18 enters Jan Kempdorp from the south and meets the R370 and the R708. Leaving the town, it continues northwards, passing Hartswater. Shortly afterwards it crosses into

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

North West

It reaches

Taung Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means ''place of the lion'' and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong. ''Tau'' is the Tswana word for lion. Education High,Secondary and Middle Schools ...

, where it crosses the

Harts River The Harts River ( af, Hartsrivier) is a northern tributary of the Vaal River, which in turn is the largest tributary of the Orange River (also known as the Gariep River, the largest river in South Africa). Its source is in the North West Province, ...

before the R372 intersects from the west. It continues northwards, passing Pudimoe and after some distance, it enters

from the south as Moffat Street. Inside the town, it continues north, crossing the east-west N14 Market Street before leaving the town. Continuing north-east for 159 km, through Stella (where it meets the R377 at a

staggered junction An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...

) and

Setlagole Setlagole ''(Se tla a gola)'' is a historical Setswana village next to the N18 in Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the s ...

, it enters Mafikeng from the south-west as the Vryburg Road. Crossing the railway into the town, it becomes two one-way streets (Main Street eastwards and Shippard Street westwards) before reaching a junction in the centre of the town, where it meets the R503 and the R49. Turning north-west as Nelson Mandela Drive, it heads through the northern suburbs of Mafikeng and heads northwards for 24 km to the

Border post with Botswana. On the

side, it becomes the A1 highway to

Lobatse Lobatse is a town in south-eastern Botswana, 70 kilometres south of the capital Gaborone, situated in a valley running north towards Gaborone and close to the border with South Africa. Lobatse has a population of 29,772 as of 2022. The town is an ...

and

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

References

External links

National Roads Agency SA
National Roads in South Africa Roads in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-road-stub