The R573 is a Regional 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 ...

that connects

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

with

Marble Hall Marble Hall is a town in the south of the Limpopo province of South Africa. It was formerly in Mpumalanga province. Marble Hall is a village 26 km north-west of Groblersdal and 96 km south-south-east of Mokopane on the N11 National R ...

via

KwaMhlanga KwaMhlanga is a fast growing town in the North Western corner of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. It is the spiritual home of the Ndebele tribe that settled here in the early 18th century. Kwamhlanga now consists of Kwamhlanga, Mandela, Phol ...

and

Siyabuswa Siyabuswa is a town (also informally defined as a township) in the countryside of the South African province of Mpumalanga (a region formerly called Eastern Transvaal). During the apartheid era, Siyabuswa was the capital of the KwaNdebele Bantus ...

. As the road passes through Moloto (at the

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 ...

- Mpumalanga border), the entire route is known as the ''Moloto Road.'' It is maintained by the South African National Roads Agency.

Route

Its south-western terminus is a junction with the R513 road just north-east of

(east of

Montana Park Montana Park is a residential suburb of Pretoria in Gauteng, 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 ...

). It heads north-east for 48 kilometres, bypassing the

Roodeplaat Dam Roodeplaat Dam is a concrete arch dam situated in South Africa on the Pienaars River (also known along parts of its length as the Moretele River and Moreleta Spruit), a tributary of the Crocodile River, which flows northwards into the Limpopo R ...

and Roodeplaat Nature Reserve, to enter Mpumalanga at the town of Moloto and proceed to the town of

, where it meets the R568 road. It continues east-north-east for 26 kilometres to the town of Kwaggafontein. Just before Kwaggafontein, it meets the northern terminus of the R544 road. From Kwaggafontein, the R573 continues north-east to cross into

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

at the town of Witfontein. Soon after, the R573 meets the R568 again and temporarily crosses back into Mpumalanga, entering the town of

. The distance from Kwaggafontein to Siyabuswa is 24 kilometres. Just after Siyabuswa, the R573 crosses back into Limpopo and continues north-east for 30 kilometres to end at a junction with the R33 and N11 National Route in

, just south of the town centre.

State of Road

The R573 Moloto Road Corridor has been declared as a dangerous road. About 50,000 passengers use this route on a daily basis and is notorious for claiming lives in accidents. In July 2015, the

and Mpumalanga road departments handed over their parts of the road to the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). In 2019,

Province officially handed over its portion to SANRAL, meaning that the entire route from

is now the responsibility of SANRAL. SANRAL started the upgrade of the route in 2016 and is expected to finish the Moloto Road Upgrade Project in 2025. The upgrades include changing certain intersections into roundabouts as well as upgrading the carriageway from Siyabuswa to Marble Hall. There are also considerations to add a railway following this route. However, protests over the upgrade and maintenance of this route were still occurring as of September 2020. The group of protesters were protesting at the

Union Buildings The Union Buildings ( af, Uniegebou) form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the northern end of ...

in Pretoria, claiming that the Moloto Development Corridor (road and rail) is incomplete and that the Finance Minister and Treasury should quickly make the money available for the development corridor.

References

Regional Routes in Gauteng Regional Routes in Limpopo Regional Routes in Mpumalanga {{SouthAfrica-road-stub