Charlestown, KwaZulu-Natal

Charlestown
Charlestown Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Coordinates: 27°25′S 29°53′E / 27.417°S 29.883°E / -27.417; 29.883Coordinates: 27°25′S 29°53′E / 27.417°S 29.883°E / -27.417; 29.883
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District
Time zone	South Africa Standard Time (UTC+2)

Charlestown is a small town situated at the top of Laing's Nek pass in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between Newcastle and Volksrust. It started out as an important railway station and customs post between Natal and Transvaal in 1891 until the Union of South Africa came into being in 1910, and customs tariffs were abolished. It is named after Sir Charles Mitchell, governor of Natal.

It became a dormitory suburb of Volksrust, just across the border in the Transvaal, and many black people bought freehold land in the town. During the 1960s, however, the apartheid policy of the government led to most of the black inhabitants being forcibly removed to Madadeni, near Newcastle, and Charlestown became a ghost town. Now Charlestown has been brought back to those people. Even though the municipality does not consider the situation of this area, which is starting to be a mess, more especially when it comes to development even though this area is a good practical example of what the apartheid was doing to people.