Sasol bombs: 'It was like an earthquake'

This is an edited extract from Attacking the Heart of Apartheid by Yunus Carrim, which tells the story of the MK's Special Operations Unit

- 

At about 23:40 on 31 May 1980, massive explosions rocked Sasol 1 in Sasolburg. About five minutes later, there were major explosions four kilometres away at the Sasol Natref plant. At about 00:20 on 1 June, less powerful explosions shook Sasol 2 in Secunda, 198 kilometres away. And two days later, about 113 kilometres from Sasol 1, in Springs, three bombs were defused, one barely minutes before exploding near the offices of Fluor, the US company building Sasol 2 and 3.

Sasol was formed to produce oil from coal because the country didn’t have large crude oil reserves. In a major technological leap, Sasol became the only company in the world to achieve this. Natref is the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa.

The explosions at Sasol 1 were heard several kilometres away and the flames rose hundreds of metres, lighting up the night sky.

Residents of nearby Zamdela were thrown out of their beds as the explosions shook the ground. “It was a tremendous explosion which even rocked my bed,” said Reuben Tshkeli. “Everything in the house was shaking... When I looked through the window, I saw a mixture of smoke and flames high in the air... there was a lot of pandemonium.”

Aaron Melato shot out of bed and ran into the street, but the heat was so intense that he couldn't go further. People fled when they “saw a ball of fire coming towards the township”.

Elsewhere people were also shaken from their sleep. Anna Roth said, “It was like an earthquake. I thought it was all over with us.”

Fire engines, with sirens screaming, raced to the blazing tanks. So fierce were the flames that people several kilometres away could feel the intensity of the heat.

Eddy van Baalen, Sasol’s safety and fire officer, said: “There was a flash and it was suddenly brighter than daylight as the flames reared up. You could see the hairs on your arms. It felt like all day but it was probably just for a few seconds that we endured the intense heat.”