R44 described as ‘scenic coastal route’ by tourism board — described as ‘a daily trauma’ by the 14,000 people who commute on it
The Western Cape tourism board’s current promotional brochure for the Helderberg and Overberg regions features, on page three, a full-bleed photograph of the R44 coastal road in conditions that local commuters have identified as physically impossible on any morning they have personally experienced. The road is empty. The light is golden. There are no vehicles. The sea is flat. There is no one tailgating anyone. A local resident who has used the road daily for eleven years studied the photograph for some time before concluding that it was taken at approximately five in the morning in February during a public holiday, probably and that whoever took it left immediately afterwards before the situation normalised.
The tourism board’s description of the route — “a breathtaking scenic coastal drive offering uninterrupted ocean views and an unforgettable journey between the Helderberg and the Overberg” — is not disputed in its factual elements by the approximately 14,000 people who commute on it daily. The ocean views are real. The curves are real. The fynbos is real. What the brochure does not capture, several commuters noted, is the experience of sitting behind a campervan travelling at 47 km/h through a corner that does not permit overtaking, knowing there are eleven more corners exactly like it before the road straightens and that you have a nine o’clock meeting.
The road has also been closed by rockslides, fog, storm damage and, on one occasion that older residents still discuss, a baboon that positioned itself at the centre of the carriageway and declined to move for forty minutes with what eyewitnesses described as complete moral authority.
The tourism board said it was pleased the route continued to attract visitors. The commuters said they were pleased for them.
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