Western Cape and Eastern Cape

In the Cape Town area, the R102 starts in the Central Business District as Strand Street and runs through Woodstock, Maitland, Goodwood and Parow before it reaches Bellville. From Bellville, it turns in a southeasterly direction and goes on the outskirts of the metropolitan area through Kuils River, Eerste River and onwards to Somerset West where it merges with the existing N2.

At Mossel Bay it divides to the east again, passing through all the towns between there and George. Near Nature's Valley east of Plettenberg Bay it once again splits off, traversing the various Tsitsikamma gorges such as the Grootrivier Pass and the Bloukrans Pass (which is currently closed; was closed in 2007 due to flood damage^[3]) and then rejoining the N2 east of the Bloukrans Bridge. Farther east, in the Eastern Cape, it passes through the towns of Humansdorp and Jeffreys Bay, becoming the Van Stadens Pass and crossing the Gamtoos River and the Van Stadens River on its way to Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth), where it passes through the city centre before turning north and merging with the N2 at Coega.

At King William’s Town (7 km south-east of the town centre; at Zwelitsha), the R102 splits again for a short section, starting at a junction with the R346. It heads east-north-east through Phakamisa to Ilitha, where it turns eastwards just before a junction with the N2. It parallels the N2 east-south-east, through Berlin, passing a Walter Sisulu University campus, to form the northern border of the Mdantsane Township just outside East London. It then enters East London, passing through the suburbs to the north of the CBD before rejoining the N2 north-east of the city (near Gonubie).

KwaZulu-Natal

The R102 separates from the N2 in Port Shepstone and passes through the South Coast towns of Anerley, Melville, Umzumbe and Hibberdene, before heading inland and passing through the Mnamfu area. It then turns back towards the coast and passes through Pennington, Park Rynie and Scottburgh before entering the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Durban Metropole) at Umkomaas. The route then passes through Kingsburgh and Amanzimtoti and then passes through the industrial suburbs of Prospecton, Mobeni and Congella before entering Durban's Central Business District from the south and passing through it as the main road.

North of Durban, the route passes through Durban North and bypasses KwaMashu, Phoenix and Mount Edgecombe and passes through Verulam. It continues to bypass the King Shaka International Airport and passes through Tongaat (now oThongathi) before heading towards Stanger (now KwaDukuza). Between Tongaat and Stanger, the route passes through the small settlements of Umhlali and Shakaskraal. After Stanger, the route heads through Darnall, Mandini and Gingindlovu, passes close to Mtunzini, before heading to Empangeni. About 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Empangeni, the route merges with the N2.