Paddock, KwaZulu-Natal


Paddock is a small village in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

History

Alfred County Railway

is an abandoned 2 ft narrow gauge railway which runs from the southern transport hub of Port Shepstone via Izotsha and Paddock for 122 kilometres to Harding. Banana Express and Hamba Wehelle Express used to operate on this railway line.
Banana Express which used to run between Port Shepstone station and Paddock, closed down in 2006.
The last operations on the Alfred County Railway was the Hamba Wehelle Express, a diesel locomotive which was operated 2015. A short section of the railway line was between Paddock and Plains which was in use and a limited tourist service was being provided using a light weight carriage and an industrial Hunslet diesel locomotive.

Administration

It is governed by the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality and the Ugu District Municipality. It was previously governed by the Ezinqoleni Local Municipality until 3 August 2016 when the municipality was amalgamated with the Hibiscus Coast Local Municipality and was renamed to Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality.

Geography

Paddock is located kilometres west of Port Shepstone and kilometres east of Izingolweni. It is located along the N2 to Port Shepstone and Durban in the east Harding, Kokstad and Mthatha in the west.
Paddock is also near the tourist attraction of Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve which is 18 km north-west of the town.

Facilities

Paddock being a very small town/village has very little facilities however facilities include a police station, musalla and a Shell service station. The nearest public hospital is in Murchison and the nearest private hospital in Port Shepstone. The nearest shopping facilities are in Port Shepstone or Izingolweni.

Agriculture

Paddock is surrounded by sugarcane and macadamia nuts plantations. Mayo Macs which is a company that grows macadamia nuts and has a processing plant just outside Paddock.