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Secunda (from Latin: second, secund, secundi meaning second/following) is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
fields of the
Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...
province of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. It was named for being the second
Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...
extraction refinery producing oil from coal, after
Sasolburg Sasolburg is a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The city is located in the northern part of the province and is the seat of the Metsimaholo Local Municipality. The city lies 13 kilometres south of the Gauteng province and form ...
, some to the west.


History


Early history

During 1974,
Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...
(Transvaal) Townships Limited, a subsidiary company of
Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...
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 Ìomhar (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 Tuynhuys, the original house of the farm Goedehoop, 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 political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
. 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. Biography One of three sons, Patrick ...
he was accused wrongly at his first attempt, and as a result of his arrest and torture he became an ANC 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 Synfuels plant. The chimney is an
Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...
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 civil engineering, buildings, roads and mining projects. Concor returned as an independent ...
as part of a contract to construct the Sasol Synfuels steamplant with
Hochtief Hochtief AG is a global provider of infrastructure technology and construction services, with locations in North America, Australia, and Europe. The Essen based company is primarily active in the fields of high tech, energy transition, and sustai ...
. The foundations of the chimney comprised vertical and raked
piles Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''he ...
. 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 the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
, 135 kilometers from
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, 100 km from
Brakpan Brakpan is a mining town on the East Rand of Gauteng, South Africa, approximately 38 kilometres (23.6 mi) east of Johannesburg. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water ...
, 250 km from
Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...
, 530km from
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
and 1530km from
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, 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 In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
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 proces ...
, 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 Fuel gas, 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 ...
,
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 engine ...
, 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,
Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
, 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 32 cinema complexes consisting of 342 screens, 47 961 seats and 124 3D screens across the country (Comme ...
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 gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
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 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...
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 Municipality (; ), formerly the Highveld East Local Municipality, is a Local municipality (South Africa), local municipality within the Gert Sibande District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Secunda, Mpumalang ...
(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, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
. Hoërskool Oosterland has 900 students, 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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
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 school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
s 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 A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
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 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 ShopRite is an American retailers' cooperative of supermarkets with stores in six states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York (state), New York and Pennsylvania. Based in Keasbey, New Jersey, ShopRite consists of 50 individua ...
. Secunda Mall, a modern mall with a
GLA GLA or Gla may refer to: Entertainment * ''GLA'' (album), by Scottish alternative rock band Twin Atlantic * Great Lakes Avengers, a fictional comic hero group Organisations * Gangmasters Licensing Authority, a British regulatory body * Genera ...
of 52,000 m2, opened in the CBD on 23 October 2013. Tenants include Checkers Hyper, Pick 'n Pay,
Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
, Woolworths,
Truworths Truworths (officially Truworths International Ltd) is a South African clothing and footwear retailer. Founded in 1917, and based in Cape Town, Truworths operates a total of 888 stores, 763 of which are in South Africa, 88 in the United Kingdom a ...
,
Foschini Group TFG Limited (commonly known as TFG and formerly The Foschini Group), is a South African retail clothing group, which trades under various brands, and has more than 3,000 stores within its portfolio. It is headquartered in Cape Town. In 2015, t ...
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