22-606: Sasolburg is the third largest city (after Bloemfontein, Welkom) within the Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa and is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark (a more affluent cluster of suburbs located about 5 km north of the Sasolburg CBD) and Zamdela (a townships ). The city is located only 13km south of
44-673: A National Key Point under the National Key Points Act, 1980 , which legislation protected areas so designated from "loss, damage, disruption or immobilisation (that) may prejudice the Republic".(now Sasolburg has the city called Amelia On 2 June 1980, Sasolburg was attacked by Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the African National Congress 's (ANC) military wing. They bombed two strategically important SASOL (oil-from-coal) plants and an oil refinery. This event
66-573: A special willow planted on the riverbanks, a jam factory, a boat building factory, a cold drink factory, and the Parys Roller Milling Company. By the middle 1950s, big industries like ARWA, BASA (a nuts-and-bolts factory), Vaalrivierse Tabakkooperasie, Vetsak (an agricultural co-op that was founded in Parys), and Metro Clothing Company had settled in the industrial area of Parys. Only a handful of industries remain today, and like in
88-476: The Labour Court ruled in favour of the ex-workers; however, as of 2014, they have yet to receive compensation. SASOL still denies responsibility and, as a result of the refinery's designation as a National Key Point, the actions taken against workers remain secret until today. In January 2013, residents of Sasolburg's Zamdela township rioted in response to a demarcation proposal to incorporate Sasolburg into
110-638: The Vaal River . The name is the Afrikaans translation of Paris . The origin of the name 'Parys' is attributed to German surveyor Schilbach, who named it after the city of Paris because of the similarity between its location next to the Vaal River and that of Paris on the River Seine . The area of Parys also includes the two townships of Tumahole and Schonkenville. In the early 1870s, towns in
132-641: The Free State from the former Transvaal Province , and is not far from the Vaal Dam where excellent windsurfing spots can be found. Sasolburg is the seat of both the Fezile Dabi District Municipality and the Metsimaholo Local Municipality of the northern Free State . [REDACTED] Media related to Sasolburg at Wikimedia Commons Metsimaholo Local Municipality Too Many Requests If you report this error to
154-733: The Northern Free State were situated very far apart, and members of different churches had to travel great distances to participate in religious services. It was then decided by the Ring of the Dutch Reformed Church to implant the idea of a congregation north of the Rhenoster River into the minds of the residents of the farm Klipspruit, on the Vaal River, which was owned by four van Coller brothers. Three gentlemen, Messrs. De Villiers, Luyt and Fleck were sent to
176-601: The Vaal," and city dwellers flocked by train to the lush green riverbanks and special swimming facilities and accommodations provided by the Village Management Board at the time. Bungalows were built on Woody Island and were serviced by the Woody Island Ferry. Unfortunately, this venture did not last very long because of the inaccessibility of the island during the flood periods. By now, residents of
198-498: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 947928450 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:42:25 GMT Parys Parys (pronounced / ˈ p ɑː r eɪ s / ) is a resort town in northern Free State province , South Africa. It is situated on the southern bank of
220-415: The church. On the 14 th of June 1876 the first sale of seven erven was held by a Mr. Wouter de Villiers, and the upset price of the erven was 25 pounds each. The completion of the railway sideline to Parys in 1905 meant that Parys had suddenly become more accessible to the public, and this led to the growth of the town as a holiday resort and industrial centre. The town was now being marketed as The Pride of
242-600: The ferry crossings. Towards the end of 1913, tenders were requested for a reinforced concrete bridge over the Vaal. The project began in May 1914. The outbreak of the First World War three months later caused long delays, and the bridge was only finished and opened for traffic around Christmas 1915. Because of the bridge over the Vaal, trade grew, and Parys was a new market for farmers from the then-Transvaal side. Many new buildings were built as more and more traffic ran through
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#1732783344965264-426: The neighbouring Parys 's Ngwathe municipality , believing that the merge would result in poorer service delivery and increased corruption. Police were unable to stop the violence, which involved assault, vandalism, and plundering, as they were outnumbered. Sasolburg is at a high altitude with a fairly dry climate and large seasonal temperature variation. It is situated on the banks of the Vaal River , which separates
286-475: The operation of the pilot plant a priority to the government. Plans were made for a production plant to be built in the Eastern Transvaal to produce approximately 25% of the national fuel requirements. The new town of Secunda was built to house the construction and operations staff of what became known as SASOL 2 and SASOL 3 ( Secunda CTL ). Sasol One was one of the first places to be designated as
308-462: The owners of Klipspruit to induce them to lay the farm out as a township, but the Van Coller brothers were very reluctant to listen to the arguments put forward by the three men. Not giving up hope of laying out a township, the three gentlemen went to the adjoining farm, Vischgat (the present Vredefort). The owners of Vischgat were more amenable to argument and inducement, and it was not long before
330-465: The propaganda impact of the attack was significant: the South African government presented the event as the result of a foreign, communist onslaught against South Africa, and not a domestic reaction to the country's racial policies. Police Minister Louis le Grange claimed that the then-exiled Joe Slovo , of the banned South African Communist Party , was a key figure. Newspapers that supported
352-653: The province of Gauteng and forms part of the Vaal Triangle (Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, and Sasolburg) regions. It is only an hour's drive from Johannesburg. Most white residents of Sasolburg speak Afrikaans as a first language, while most black people who live in Zamdela speak Sesotho as a first language . The Sasol corporation has sponsored infrastructural developments in Sasolburg, such as an Olympic size swimming pool named after Penelope Heyns . The town
374-513: The ruling National Party claimed that, in fact, Muammar Qaddafi had masterminded the sabotage, and that Russians had been training terrorists in Libya . On 1 October 1987, Sasol 1's management called in police and vigilantes to break up a workers’ strike resulting from a wage dispute. Over the following weeks, 77 workers died, and the 2 400 jobs were retrenched without their due compensation. The ex-workers took SASOL to court as result and, in 1989,
396-457: The town had felt for quite some time that a bridge across the Vaal River was justly due. The Woody Island, Ferry Service crossed on to Woody Island and from there another ferry completed the crossing. The service was infrequent, and accidents happened frequently. Farmers on the Transvaal side even preferred to go to Potchefstroom , 48 kilometres (30 mi) away, rather than face the expense of
418-509: The town. Few of the original buildings and historic places remain today. The current Parys Palm Court Hotel is one of the surviving turn-of-the century buildings, as are the museum (once the magistrate's office) and "Moedergemeente" Church in the centre of town. There are, however, a few original old houses remaining. Industries that have come and gone are the Orange River Canning Company, Parys Basket Works, which used
440-416: The township Vredefort was born. The owners of Klipspruit soon awoke to the fact that a golden opportunity had slipped through their fingers and set out in haste to retrieve matters. History does not record the steps they took, but it seems probable that they secured the sympathy of the Dutch Reformed Church, for, later on in 1876 when the town was laid out, a goodly portion of ground was set aside and donated to
462-684: Was depicted in the 2006 film Catch a Fire . Kader Asmal , founder of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement , claimed in his memoirs, Politics in my Blood , that the ANC had recruited volunteers from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) to do reconnaissance on the refinery. The attack proved to be largely ineffectual in terms of sabotaging the manufacturing processes of the Sasol plant. However
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#1732783344965484-402: Was established in 1954 to provide housing and other facilities for Sasol employees. The initial installation (Sasol 1) was a pilot plant to refine oil from coal, due to the lack of petroleum reserves. The coal reserves of the country were and still are extensive. The political developments of the late 1960s and early 1970s (specifically the trade embargoes against the apartheid government) made
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