The R512 is a Regional Route in

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 ...

that connects

Brits, North West Brits () is a town situated in a fertile citrus, vegetable and grain-producing area that is irrigated by the waters of the Hartbeespoort Dam in North West Province of South Africa. It is close to the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in ...

with

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 ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

(north of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

) via the western side of

Hartbeespoort Hartbeespoort, informally also known as "Harties", is a small resort town in the North West Province of South Africa, situated on slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain and the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam. The name of the town means "gateway of th ...

. It is an alternative route to the R511 for travel between the Johannesburg Metropole and Brits.

Route

North West

Its northern origin is

at an intersection with the R511 as Van Velden Street, becoming Rutgers Street, in a southerly direction. Just south of Brits, the R512 meets the R566 Road from

Ga-Rankuwa Ga-Rankuwa is a large settlement located about 37 km north-west of Pretoria. Provincially it is in Gauteng province, but it used to fall in Bophuthatswana during the apartheid years, and under the North West province until the early 2000s. ...

. The R512 continues southwards to meet the N4 Highway (

Platinum Highway The Platinum Highway is part of the N4, and a major South African highway built under concessions with a private contractor. In 2001, the project was voted Infrastructure Deal of the Year by Project Finance International Magazine. It took eight ye ...

). Just after meeting the N4, the R512 reaches an interchange with the Pampoen Nek Pass (which is coming from the N4 West in the west) and it leaves the southerly road to become the Pampoen Nek Pass south-eastwards, passing under the R104 Route, to reach an interchange with the R560 Route west of Kosmos Village. From the R560 interchange, it continues south-east, crossing the Magalies River & turning eastwards at a T-junction by Arrows Rest, bypassing the

Hartbeespoort Dam Hartbeespoort Dam (also known as ''Harties'') is an arch type dam situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It lies in a valley to the south of the Magaliesberg mountain range and north of the Witwatersberg mountain range, about 35 kil ...

to the south, towards

Broederstroom Broederstroom is a small town situated on the Daspoortrand in the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains in the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. History Settlement in the Witwatersrand, Witwatersberg, sou ...

. After Broederstroom, near

Pelindaba Pelindaba ("Pelile Ndaba", Zulu for "end of story" or "the conclusion") is South Africa's main nuclear research centre, run by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation. It is situated near the Hartbeespoort Dam, approximately 33 km (22&n ...

, by the Crocodile River, as the road eastwards connects to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, the R512 turns southwards, as Pelindaba Road, towards Johannesburg. Just after, the R512 crosses into

Gauteng

From Broederstroom, the R512 makes a 25 km journey to

Lanseria International Airport Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 and th ...

. The road then meets the R552 (6th Road) at

Bultfontein Bultfontein is a town in the Free State province of South Africa with a total population of about 23,400 people. It is situated in the Tswelopele Local Municipality, about north of Bloemfontein. The town site was laid out in 1873; it had been d ...

and forms an interchange with the N14 Highway (

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west ...

Highway). After crossing the N14 highway and its old equivalent, the R114, it heads south towards

, part of the

Johannesburg Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite services for the city. Z ...

, as

Malibongwe Drive Malibongwe Drive, formerly known as Hans Strijdom Drive ( af, Hans Strijdom-rylaan), is a major road that runs through an industrial area in the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It connects Randburg with Northgate and Lanseria Internatio ...

- formerly known as Hans Strijdom Drive. It passes through the lower-middle Cosmo City and Kya Sands townships before crossing the R564 Road (Witkoppen Road; Northumberland Avenue) and entering the more affluent Northriding and Olivedale suburbs. The R512 reaches an interchange with the N1 Highway ( Johannesburg Western Bypass) (

Johannesburg Ring Road The Johannesburg Ring Road is a set of freeways that circle the city of Johannesburg, South Africa and service the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The entire Ring Road is an e-toll highway (with open road tolling) and is approx ...

) before continuing through

as Malibongwe Drive, then West Street, to end in Linden, north of the

Johannesburg Botanical Garden The Johannesburg Botanical Garden is located in the suburb of Emmarentia in Johannesburg, South Africa. The gardens grew out of a large rose garden that was established in 1964 (becoming known locally as the "Rose Garden") and subsequently expand ...

, at a junction with the M20.

History and developments

Before September 2020, the R512 from the R560 interchange to the N4 interchange took a different route. At the R560 interchange, the R512 turned towards the north-east, bypassing Kosmos Village, to reach a 4-way junction in the suburb of Damdoryn (west of the

wall), where it turned to the west to be co-signed with the R104. After 5 kilometres, the R512 split from the R104 to become its own road northwards, proceeding to cross the N4 and enter Brits. As of 03 September 2020, a new route has been opened named the Pampoen Nek Pass, effectively continuing the R512 northwards from the R560 interchange for 6 km up to the next off-ramp junction just south of the R512 & N4 interchange (north of the old R512 & R104 split), where the R512 now becomes the road northwards towards Brits while the Pampoen Nek Pass continues westwards to join the N4 West. This new routing of the R512 effectively reduces the distance of the route from

to Brits by 6 km.

Pampoen Nek Pass

As of 2018, the

South African National Roads Agency The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd or SANRAL is a South African parastatal responsible for the management, maintenance and development of South Africa's proclaimed National Road network which includes many (but not all) National ("N") ...

(SANRAL) was constructing a shortcut for the R512 Route, from its intersection with the R560 Route (north-west of

) northwards up to just north of where the R512 and the R104 Route split (west of The Elephant Sanctuary of Hartbeespoort), where there is a ramp onto the N4 Platinum Highway West, in a highway format. The R512's junction with the R560 west of

is an off-ramp junction and the next and last junction just north of the R104 and R512 junction west of the Elephant Sanctuary is also an off-ramp interchange before the freeway goes westwards to join the N4 West. It was built to reduce the traffic that occurs on the older longer section of the R512 through Damdoryn, which is also labelled as a high accident zone adjacent to Kosmos Village. It is meant to be a shortcut and to reduce the distance for travelers using the R512 to either join the N4 Highway West to

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West province, South Africa (549,575 in 2011 and 626,522 in the 2016 census). In 2017 ...

& Sun City or to go to Brits. To some extent, this new route also reduces the traffic on the R511 Route, which passes on the other side of the Hartbeespoort Dam (through Hartbeespoort Central) on its way to Brits, and long distance movements will no longer have to interfere with local traffic. This new road is to be used by motorists who want to travel from the

(

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 nearby areas, like

West) to cities like Brits, Sun City and

. On 3 September 2020, the Minister of Transport,

Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 1 April 1971 in the Free State) is a South African politician who is currently serving in the cabinet as Minister of Transport. He previously served as both Minister and Deputy Minister of Police and Minister of Sport ...

, together with the

and the

Madibeng Local Municipality The Madibeng Local Municipality is a local municipality in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. The seat of local municipality is Brits. The popular tourist area of Hartbeespoort is also located in the mu ...

, officially opened the new road. This route, known as the Pampoen Nek Highway, is 6 kilometres in length from the R560 interchange to the interchange where the R512 turns north towards Brits (6 kilometres shorter than the old Z-shaped route passing by Kosmos Village, Damdoryn and the Elephant Sanctuary).

References

{{reflist Regional Routes in Gauteng Regional Routes in North West (South African province) Highways in South Africa