History of the Vaal

A few years later, the South African Coal Oil and Gas Corporation (Sasol) was formed. The company was established due to South Africa’s lack of crude oil reserves and dependency on imports. It developed world-leading technology for the conversion of low grade coal into oil. The town of Sasolburg like its neighbouring town of Vanderbijlpark, was established as a planned model town in 1954, providing housing and facilities for its employees. Fuel production ceased in 1990 at the Sasolburg plant (Sasol One) but continues at its Secunda Mpumalanga plants (Sasol Two & Sasol Three) with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day or 32% of the country’s oil consumption.

Today, the Sasolburg site is a synthetic petrochemical plant producing synthetic rubber, plastics, fertilizers and secondary chemicals. Coal has gradually been replaced by gas piped from fields in Mozambique. Sasolburg is also home two other heavy industries, Dow Sentrachem (plastics) and Omnia (fertilizers). Together with Total SA and the National Iranian Oil Company, South Africa’s only inland refinery (Natref) was established in Sasolburg in 1960. Imported petroleum was refined and cracked to produce ethylene for plastics, and pipeline gas was supplied in increasing quantities to industry.

Dickenson Railway Bridge

Peace Monument

Vereeniging

William Stow Monument

Garden of Remembrance

Sharpeville

Apartheid Bridge

Cenotaph

OVERVIEW

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