National routes in South Africa are a class of trunk roads and freeways which connect major cities.

[1] The system was mostly built during the 1970s by the National Party government of South Africa, although construction of new roads and repairs of existing stretches continue today.

The system was modeled on the United States Interstate Highway network, an idea first brought into effect by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower during the 1950s, based on the German Autobahn, which he experienced when touring Germany after the Second World War.

On maps and some signage, national routes are shown by a pentagon with the number of the road inside.

[4] An earlier scheme, deviating considerably from the current numbering, is described in the 1970 Shell Road Atlas of South Africa and other contemporaneous sources: [5]