| Charlestown | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa KwaZulu-Natal#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -27.4167°N 82°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | KwaZulu-Natal |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Amajuba |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Newcastle |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1889[1] |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 21.99 |
| Population Total: | 4392 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 99.2% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.4% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.1% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 0.2% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Zulu |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 94.4% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | English |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 1.4% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | S. Ndebele |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 1.0% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 3.1% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
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. In 1927 the town was the site of one of South Africa's first mass-shooting instances when local farmer Stephanus Swart shot and killed 8 people.
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.