Beyers Naudé Drive is a large arterial route in Johannesburg, South Africa. It starts at the University of Johannesburg

University of Johannesburg

The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Rand Afrikaans University . Prior to the merger, the Daveyton and Soweto campuses of the former Vista University had been incorporated into RAU...

 in Auckland Park, travelling through Melville

Melville, Gauteng

Melville is a Bohemian suburb of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. It is the location of many restaurants and bars, which are mostly frequented by students from the nearby University of Johannesburg, located in Auckland Park. It is also one of the city's gay villages.The suburb was proclaimed on...

, Roosevelt Park, Northcliff, Blackheath and traversing the N1 Western Bypass at Randpark Ridge

Randpark Ridge

Randpark Ridge is a suburb of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in the Roodepoort region of the Johannesburg metropolitan council. It fell into the town of Randburg during the apartheid era...

. It terminates at the N14 freeway near Muldersdrift. It was previously known as DF Malan Drive. It is denoted by the code M5.

Beyers Naudé Drive is named after celebrated anti-apartheid pastor Beyers Naudé

Beyers Naudé

Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé was a South African cleric, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist...

. He was excommunicated by the Dutch Reformed Church

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

 for his views, but subsequently re-accepted after apartheid’s abolition.

The drive links the inner city

Inner city

The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...

 of Johannesburg to the far western regions of Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

 over a distance of 30 kilometres. It varies from being three lanes in each direction through Roosevelt Park

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and Randpark Ridge to being single lanes in each direction through Cosmo City and further out to Muldersdrift.

Several shopping malls, the largest being Cresta Shopping Centre

Cresta Shopping Centre

Cresta Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located on the border of Northcliff and Cresta. It has gone through eight recent extensions and refurbishments....

 in Blackheath, are located along Beyers Naudé Drive. It is a major arterial route for residents of Randburg and Roodepoort to access the city centre (Braamfontein

Braamfontein

Braamfontein is a central suburb of Johannesburg, in South Africa. It is well located, straddling Jan Smuts Avenue and Empire Road. The Nelson Mandela bridge is a landmark that connects Braamfontein to the city...

 and the M1

M1 (Johannesburg)

The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a major freeway in Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton...

highway through the city centre).