Ahrens, Kwa-Zulu Natal

Railway Siding 16 km west of Greytown, on the route to Kranskop. It was named in honour of Wilhelm Ahrens, Principal from 1880 to 1906 of the School at Hermannsburg, 4 km to the North-East. 447 km South-East of Pretoria, the Country's Capital. It falls under the Umvoti Local Municipality Administration.
In this Area a Laager, that was Built as a refuge for Dutch-speaking farmers during the Anglo-Zulu War, is also known as the Hermannsburg Laager! It was declared a national monument in November 1978.
The charcoal industry in Kwa Zulu-Natal is mainly located in the general Area of Dalton, Ahrens and Greytown in the Midlands, approximately 160 kms from the Port of Durban, as well as in Northern KZN Forestry Areas between Paulpietersburg and the Mpumalanga border. The total volume of charcoal produced in Kwa Zulu-Natal is highly dependent on the prevailing price of pulp wood for export and, with increases in the export price in 2006, there has been a reduction of charcoal production in some areas. This has caused the closure of numbers of smaller producers. In spite of current conditions, the Industry is continually expanding capacity with new developments that will increase the Annual tonnage from approximately 100,000 tons to 200,000 tons over the next 5 Years. This will increase Exports output from 12,500 to 25,000 containers per Year.