Secunda (from Latin: second, secund, secundi meaning second/following) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

built amidst the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

fields of the

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It was named for being the second

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

extraction refinery producing oil from coal, after Sasolburg, some to the west.

History

Early history

During 1974,

(Transvaal) Townships Limited, a subsidiary company of

Limited, was instructed to establish and develop Secunda. After the site for the Sasol complex had been identified, it had to be decided whether or not to combine the existing towns of

Evander Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...

and

Trichardt Trichardt is a town on the N17 National Route in Gert Sibande District Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The village is 34 km west of Bethal and 32 km east-south-east of Leandra, adjacent to Secunda. History ...

. The huge burden that extensions of this nature would have had on the financial and administrative resources of the established communities as well as the tempo at which such development should proceed was decisive and resulted in the decision to develop Trichardt and Secunda to be one town, named Secunda. Evander however stayed a separate town. On 28 June 1976, the first town area was proclaimed. 1976 saw the first resident of Secunda moving in. Mr Etienne Prop Smith moved into Tuyshuys, the original house of the farm Goede Hoop, on which Secunda was built. One of the many refineries at the respective plants was the target of two attempted bombings by the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. The first, unsuccessful bombing occurred in 1980, and the second, partly successful bombing a few years later.

Patrick Chamusso Patrick Chamusso (born in 1949 in Mozambique) is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) party of South Africa who participated in the militant actions of the organization during the apartheid era. One of three sons, Patrick came to live ...

was wrongly accused of the first attempt, and as a result of his arrest and torture he became an

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

activist and was instrumental in carrying out the second as part of the ANC's campaign of attacks on South African industrial facilities. This episode is recounted in the film ''

Catch a Fire ''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had sta ...

'', released in 2006.

Geography

Another important factor determining its location, was the availability of water. Water for Sasol is supplied from Grootdraai Dam near

Standerton Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of the Vaal River in Mpumalanga, South Africa, which specialises in cattle, dairy, maize and poultry farming. The town was established in 1876 and named after Boer leader Co ...

Streetscape

The layout of the town is unique in the sense that residential quarter cells were laid out which are bordered by main routes and green strips, with the result that only internal traffic is found within such cells. Access to schools, the Central Business District and the suburban shopping centres is made easier for pedestrians and cyclists as the green strips are free from vehicles and the distance to be travelled is shorter.

Architecture

Today distinctive features of the landscape around Secunda are the massive cooling towers, high chimneys and the steel structures unique to the South-African oil-from-coal industry. The highest structure in Secunda is the 301-metre-high chimney at the Sasol Three plant. The chimney is an

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

type chimney comprising four refractory brick-lined concrete fluor of 4.6-metre diameter each. The windshield is 292 metres high with an internal diameter of 26 metres. The chimney was constructed by

Concor Concor Holdings (Proprietary) Limited. is a South African construction and mining services company. It is active throughout Southern Africa, involved in mining, civil engineering, building and road projects. Concor returned as an independent br ...

as part of a contract to construct the Sasol Three steamplant with

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.piles. This chimney is one of the tallest free-standing structures in the Southern Hemisphere.

Topography

Secunda is situated on the latitude 26° and longitude 29° and is 1,620 meters above sea level. It is 180 kilometers from

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, 135 kilometers from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, 100 km from

Brakpan Brakpan is a mining town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the "brakpan," and it was nea ...

, 250 km from

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

, 530km from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

and 1530km from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Climate

During the summer, Secunda has a very pleasant climate with an average temperature of 26.5 °C. During the winter, the nights are cold, and frost regularly occurs, whereas temperatures can go as low as -10'C at low lying areas in extreme cases. The days are dry, sunny and warm with an average day temperature of 16.2 °C.

Demographics

The town has approximately 40,198 inhabitants, with an estimated 118,889 people living in nearby township, named eMbalenhle - meaning "pretty flower". The town has experienced significant growth in the 1990's and early 2000's due to the expansions underway at the Sasol complexes.

Economy

Industry

Secunda has the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

to thank for its existence, as it was founded to make South Africa less dependent on the importation of crude oil. It is doubtful whether an industry such as Sasol Synfuels ever formed part of the plans when Sasol One was formed in the 1950s. Sasol Two (1 March 1980) and Sasol Three (10 May 1982), known as

Secunda CTL Secunda CTL is a synthetic fuel plant owned by Sasol at Secunda, Mpumalanga in South Africa. It uses coal liquefaction to produce petroleum-like synthetic crude oil from coal. The process used by Sasol is based on the Fischer–Tropsch process. ...

, the largest

coal liquefaction Coal liquefaction is a process of converting coal into liquid hydrocarbons: liquid fuels and petrochemicals. This process is often known as "Coal to X" or "Carbon to X", where X can be many different hydrocarbon-based products. However, the most c ...

plant in the world, produces

synthetic fuel Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reforming ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

, and related fuels and petrochemicals from coal gasification. Secunda Synfuels Operations, a division of Sasol South Africa Limited (previously known as Sasol Two and Sasol Three) are large industrial refineries, within view, and sometimes earshot, of the town of Secunda.

Mining

As coal is the main ingredient for the industrial process, Sasol Two had to be developed around a coalfield. The four coal mines, namely Brandspruit, Middelbult, Bosjesspruit, and Twistdraai, form the largest underground coal mining complex in South Africa and annually supply approximately 37,3 million tons of coal to Sasol Synthetic Fuels. A further two mines, Impumelelo (2014) and Shondoni (2015) were opened to help supply a total of a third of the country's coal for the project.

Culture and contemporary life

In February 1977 Secunda's first library was opened, located in the kitchen, lounge and dining rooms of a house in Danie Theron Street. At this time a clinic service was also introduced, with personnel of the Transvaal Council for Non-Urban areas visiting Secunda twice a week. The clinic was located in the same house as the library. A permanent service with permanent personnel was established in 1978. Other important occasions were the opening of the Secunda Sports Stadium on 1 February 1986, as well as the opening and handing over of the Johannes Stegmann Theatre by Sasol Limited on 6 August 1986. On 11 November 1987 an ultra modern library was opened. This library is known as the Jan Coertzen Public Library and has a reference, an adult, children's and a music section as well as an auditorium with conference facilities. In 1994 a community center was completed in Secunda. It was named after Rev. Casper Breedt. The Secunda Mall was opened in late 2013, hosting a

Checkers Hyper Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers i ...

Game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

, a

Ster-kinekor Ster-Kinekor is a South African-based cinema company, and the country's largest movie exhibitor. It represents 60-65% of the market, having 56 cinema complexes consisting of 400 screens and 64,000 seats; 154 of those screens being 3D cinemas. It ...

Cinema Complex, various restaurants and various other national chain stores. A fitness centre owned by Sasol operates in the centre of the business district, and is open to the public. Secunda is also the host town of a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

called "Graceland", a building based on the times of Elvis and American culture from that period. The Waterfront next to the sports stadium also has entertainment, various restaurants, and bars. A free, weekly, 5 km

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

takes place every Saturday morning at 8:00am. The event is hosted by local volunteers and was first held on Saturday 25 October 2014. Around December, a local business owner sponsors a dressed up Santa and his Elves and uses his fire engine red vehicle decorated with sleigh décor and drives around Secunda to gift goody bags to local families.

Law and government

Government

On 3 November 1975, the Health Committee of Secunda was established by means of an Administrative Proclamation, to carry out the functions for local government. At this time Secunda still had no residents. The original Committee consisted of five members. At that stage, the only official was Mr. JF Coertzen, whose job designation was Secretary. He commenced his duties on 1 May 1976 with his office in Pretoria, as the then Chairman of the Committee was stationed in Pretoria and no office accommodation was available in Secunda. On 1 December 1976, the Secretary moved to Secunda and occupied offices, consisting of two rooms in a house situated at No 4 Danie Theron Street. At this time about 150 families resided in Secunda, with more moving in daily. The Health Committee was later expanded to seven committee members, of whom six were appointed by the Administrator from a list of names submitted by Sasol, whilst the remaining member was appointed by the Administrator himself. Secunda acquired Town Council status on 5 November 1985. Secunda is now part of the

Govan Mbeki Local Municipality Govan Mbeki Local Municipality (formerly Highveld East Local Municipality) is a South African local municipality situated in the Gert Sibande District Municipality, of Mpumalanga. Secunda is the seat of the municipality. Main places The 2001 c ...

(formerly Highveld East Local Municipality) situated in the Gert Sibande District, of Mpumalanga. Secunda is the seat of the municipality.

Education

Secunda has three

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Hoërskool Oosterland has 900 learners, which is disaggregated between 75% Afrikaans and 25% English classes. High School Secunda has roughly 1,000 students. Highveld Park High School was founded with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as the language of education. All three of these schools comply with the requirements of the Department of Basic Education and that of the South African Schools Act (No.84 of 1996). There are a variety of subjects to choose from, including technical subjects, which are offered from Gr 10-12. There are five

Primary Schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

in Secunda, four of them started out with Afrikaans as the only tuition language: Laerskool Goedehoop, Laerskool Kruinpark, and Laerskool Secunda, however Laerskool Oranjegloed Primary started to provide tuition in both English and Afrikaans and became exclusively English in 2014. Highveld Ridge Primary School was founded as an English primary school. Another notable

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Secunda is Curro Secunda which provides education for Grade R/Grade 0 to Grade 12 and a nursery at Curro Castle Secunda for 3 months to 5 year olds. This school is owned by JSE listed

Curro Holdings Limited Curro is an Andalusian diminutive of the male name Francisco. People with the given name * Curro (footballer, born 1981) (Antonio José González García), Spanish footballer * Curro Montoya (born 1977), Spanish footballer * Curro Romero (born 1 ...

and was established as at 2015.

Infrastructure

Airfields

Secunda has an airfield, which is located on the South-West outskirts of the town.

Shopping

Secunda has a CBD built in a mall format, and is anchored by stores such as Shoprite. Secunda Mall is a modern mall, with a 52,000m² GLA, which opened across the CBD, on 23 October 2013, with tenants spanning from

, Pick 'n Pay,

, Woolworths,

Truworths Truworths is a Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the coun ...

Foschini Group TFG Limited, also known as The Foschini Group, is a South African JSE listed retail clothing group, which trades under various brands and has more than 3,000 stores within its portfolio. It is headquartered in Parow East near Cape Town. In 201 ...

and the remains of an Edgars, amongst other national chain stores and restaurants.

References

* Meintjies, Johannes; Sasol 1950-1975; Tafelberg Uitgewers; 1975

External links

Govan Mbeki Municipality
{{Authority control Populated places in the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality Populated places established in 1974 Cities in South Africa