N7 Route: South African West Coast

The N7 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town northwards through the West Coast and Namaqualand regions to the Namibian border at Vioolsdrif.

Namaqualand (Afrikaans: Namakwaland) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 kilometres and covering a total area of 440,000 square kilometres. It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.

Some of the more prominent towns in this area are Springbok, being the capital of this region, as well as Kleinzee and Koiingnaas, both private mining towns owned by De Beers Diamond Mines. This area is quite rich in alluvial diamonds deposited along the coast by the Orange River. Oranjemund is another mining town along this coast, situated in Namibia, but very much on the border. As the name suggests, it is at the mouth of the Orange River which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia.

The town of Alexander Bay is located 5 kilometres away opposite the river on the South African side and is linked to Oranjemund by the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge. Other links crossing the river further upstream are a reintroduced pontoon at Sendelingsdrift in the Richtersveld National Park, and road bridges at Vioolsdrif (the main border crossing between the two countries) and at the remote border crossing of Onseepkans.

A vibrant fishing industry is found along this stretch of the South African west coast, especially in Port Nolloth, the major resort town of Namaqualand, and Hondeklipbaai, or Dogstonebay, called such because of a large boulder outside the town which, when viewed correctly, looks vaguely like a dog sitting down. Since the 19th century, copper has been mined at Springbok and its surrounding towns, while a large mine extracting copper, lead, zinc, and silver is located at Aggeneys, 110 kilometres further inland.

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