THE PLANNING OF SASOLBURG AND SECUNDA - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROSPECTS MAX KIRCHHOFER Architect and Town Planner In all the thought and effort that has rare and fascinating kind. The Sasol fifties was .followed by a period of gone into Sasol's town development Management took an active part in ongoing growth, starting where the and in the periods of stress and the the venture and interest permeated success of the huge industrial venture moments of elation experienced du­ through their organisation. The Local was assured and the plant was expan­ ring the 32 years of ongoing endea­ Authority on its later establishment ded in 1960. The Local Authority en­ vour, there has been the common con­ responded in the same spirit. And so tered upon active township develop­ cern for the ultimate objectives - the did many of the inhabitants as they ment towards the end of the seventies creation of an urban environment saw their environment emerge from with the acquisition of the speculative worth living in, economical, safe and the dust of the construction site. townships together with vacant land pleasant. on the northern slopes towards the During the years of implimentation Vaal River. A phase of expansion was The bare necessity of providing and development the interests in the thus initiated. housing as a prerequisite to the run­ human issues was maintained and ning of the Sasol I factory touched eventually in 1975 it was transmitted upon the basic elements from which to the team entrusted with the de­ towns were made. It called for critical sign, construction and administra­ NOTE: This report expresses solely assessment of traditional methods tion of the new town of Secunda. the writer's views and nothing here­ and presented opportunities to try out in may be construed as emanating new approaches. The technical task Sasolburg went through several phases from The South African Coal, Oil turned into a spiritual adventure of a ofgrowth. The pioneering stage of the and Gas Corporation Limited. 1. SASOLBURG: Thus the planner's brief was crisp. nism balanced in itself. THE PIONEERING STAGE The estimated works complement of 1000 whites represented ~ population Four aspects of planning appeared to 1.1 of about 8000; allowing a contingency be of over-riding importance: Sasolburg had a most modest start for future affiliated industries and ad­ (i) The first priority was to break the that February morning in 1951 when ding a safety margin, the population destructive force of, the motor the mealie fields of the northern Free­ for which the town was to be designed vehicle without restraining its state were scanned from an unusual was to be 10 OOO and not one soul usefulness. This could be done by angle: to assess the siting possibilities more. Corresponding provision was to establishing a system of main for a large plant and a little new be made for the black population iroads conducive to the free move­ town. To the men called upon to set within the framework of Government ment of vehicles without any de­ up a oil-from-coal conversion plant at policy. trimental effect on the use of the a scale not attempted anywere else, The initial stage of the planning and surrounding land. the primary concern was the pithead, development of Sasolburg was des­ (ii) Supplementary to the road sys­ the plant site and the waste disposal cribed in the issue of S.A. Architec­ tem, a network of pedestrian cum area all of which needed large ex­ tural Record for March 1958. As this cycle paths would ensure safe panses of land. publication has been out of print for movement within the residential The budget was tight. The venture some time, its contents are sum­ areas, particularly to schools and fraught with uncertainties - a long marized in this chapter. local shops, and link different way from the powerful petrochemical areas at predetermined traffic complex we know today. 1.2 Planning Objectives points that could be controlled. For those thus engaged, the building Although the provision of living ac­ (iii) New forms of residential develop­ of a new town was an uncalled for commodation for the personnel of the ment were needed to replace the nuisance. Yet it was indispensable plant was looked upon essentially as a amorphous sprawl of the subur­ that the people who were to adminis­ housing estate, its location was suffi­ ban areas of our towns with an ter and operate the undertaling were ciently isolated and its size large organic pattern of self-contained housed in an environment in which enough to offer an opportunity for units comprising within their li­ they could lead contented lives. creating a comprehensive urban orga- ,1/l;f s ,;;// i/,,,:;f tJa.r Ml!"ce~f Pe:rr de1,!J 1 living, such as kindergarten, pri­ Together with Vereeniging and Van­ inside the boundary. Coalbrook Sta­ mary school, local shops and re­ derbijlpa~k, the new town would in tion on the main line to Bloemfontein creation, protected permanently due course become part of a metro­ was situated to south-east of the plan­ from external disturbance. politan complex. The coordination of ning area, 4 km from its centre. the growth of such an urban pattern (iv) Concerted attention was to be 1.3.3 Climate given to the creation of a cohe­ entailed the safeguarding of the iden­ The prevailing winds were north­ rent urban scene primarily in the tity of the constituant parts and the westerly with cold south-easterlies in town centre and preferably where­ protection of the Vaal River vital for water supply and recreation. These winter and die highveld thunder­ ever possible throughout the town storms in summer. Annual rainfall as a whole - with emphasis on issues together with transportation averaged 660 mm, almost all during planting as an indispensable ele­ were recognised as a matter of grave the summer months, October to April. ment to be introduced from the concern for the future. beginning. 1.3.2 The.Site 1.4 General Dlsposldon 1.3 Physical Condldons The site acquired for the factory and The requirements of the oil-from-coal the town comprised 21 square kilo­ factory governed the basic disposition 1.3.1 Location metres of farm land, situated on the of the main use areas of the town. The selection of the site on the north­ western flank of a dome-shaped hill Considerations of economy of trans­ ern edge of the Orange Free State was rising steadily southward from the port for both raw materials and finis­ dictated by the vast deposits of low Vaal for a distance of 7 km to a hed products would have indicated grade coal close to the Vaal River, the height of 70 m above the river. Two that the plant should be sited in the scource of the large quantities of thirds of the land formed a compact southern sector of the planning area water required in the oil-from-coal block and the remainder extended as between pithead and railway station, conversion process. The principle con­ a corridor to the river. The coal de­ which position would also have been sumer area of the Witwatersrand lay posits stretched southward from the completely in the lee of the residential to the north within a radius of 90 km. planning area with the pithead just areas as regards the prevailing wind. SASOLBURG AND SECUNDA LOCALITY PLAN 1:1000000 2 RESIDENTIAL AREAS \ DITTO DEVELOPING t::=::~ CENTRES D PARKS [] TREE BELTS ~ RECREATION 0 £ J 1km 0 2 3 5 6 7km SASOLBURG GENERAL LAYOUT 1 SO OOO 3 Investigations of the sub-soil, how­ to the street intersections and these in the meshes of the network of main ever, disclosed in this area expansive were sp~ced as far as considerations roads, these were termed "precincts" clay of considerable depth. Conse­ of convenience permitted. All ad­ to express their defined shape. By quently the plant site had to be moved joining building land was separated 1960 four of these were established further north near the apex of the from the main roads by fences or and built up to about three quarters dome where a stable stratum was hedges; not even a pedestrian gate of their capacity. Unit No. 5 adjoining available at shallow depth. This posi­ was accepted. Access to the adjoining the town centre was pegged. Fringing tion also presented comparatively stands was provided from the local the southern edge of the layout were gentle gradients which facilitated the streets within the development areas. the service industries, the outspan (a levelling and terracing of the wide­ In this manner the mixing of vehi­ relic from oxwagon days still de­ spread site measuring about 850 m in cular and pedestrian traffic was large­ manded under the Roads Ordinance), width by 1200 m in length, covering ly eliminated and motor vehicles en­ a show ground, the prison with its approximately 100 hectares. joyed free flow in smooth conduits vegetable gardens and the cemetry. unimpeded by standing vehicles. The The hospital was sited on the northern South of the factory an area of similar median strips of the main roads were periphery. extent was reserved for future indus­ kept sufficiently wide to permit trial development devoted to the pro­ vehicles turning to the right to stop cessing of chemical products gained 1.6.2 Contents of the clear of the traffic lanes. Being speci­ Residential Units in the conversion of coal. These two fically designed for moving traffic, the areas, together with extensive waste The residential units comprise every­ carriageways were adequate with only disposal grounds, constituted the in­ thing necessary for daily family life.