Secunda

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For the Christian saint with this name, see Rufina and Secunda.

Secunda is a fairly new town built around coalfields in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was named for being the second extraction refinery for oil from coal after Sasolburg.

The town of Secunda was built from scratch when the construction of Sasol Two commenced. Sasol Two (1980) and Sasol Three (1982) produce synthetic fuel, diesel, and related fuels and petrochemicals from coal gasification.

The town has 40,000 inhabitants, with an additional 245,000 people living in the nearby Embhalenhle community. The town has experienced significant growth in the past 5 years due to the expansions underway at the Sasol complex.

The highest structure in Secunda is the 301 metre high chimney at the Sasol Three plant. The chimney is an Eskom type chimney comprising four 301 metre high refractory brick lined concrete flues 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 as part of a contract to construct the Sasol Three steamplant with Hochtief. The foundations of the chimney comprised vertical and raked piles. This chimney happens to be one of the tallest free-standing structures in the Southern Hemisphere.

The refinery was the target of two attempted bombings by the African National Congress. The first, unsuccessful bombing occurred in 1980, and the second, partly-successful bombing a few years later. Patrick Chamusso was wrongly accused of the 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, released in 2006.