The highway and the railway line run on the two sides of the the Crocodile River. The railway line runs to the east into Mozambique. It was easier to leave the railway carriages that had fallen off the tracks wherever they were.

Political decision to run the line to Johannesburg instead of Durban. Africaans vs British influence. Today used only for freight.

You used to be able to go from Pretoria in South Africa to Maputu in Mozambique by train. From what I read on this Internet, this may still be possible, but one has to get off the train near the border, cross the border on foot, and get on another train on the other side these days.

This region is close to the border with Mozambique.