MK Special Operations Unit Hits SASOL
On 1 June 1980, at approximately 19:00, Barney Molokoane, Dick Mtimkulu, Lati Ntshekang and Vaku Senzangakhona were dressed in overalls, some blue, some brown, as they headed to a dead letter box (DLB) situated in a car scrapyard just outside Sasolburg’s black township, known as Zamdela. Two hours later, Sipho Thobela, David Moise, Mochudi and Victor Khayiyana entered through a hole that had been cut in the fence of the SASOL II refinery in Secunda, 135 kilometres from Sasolburg, carrying limpet mines. After planting the mines onto fuel tanks in the complex, they ran to their getaway vehicle, the Chevrolet Firenza, and headed straight for Swaziland.
Meanwhile Lati Ntshekang, Dick Mtimkulu and Barney Molokoane were approaching the SASOL I refinery in Sasolburg, and Molokoane cut a hole in the wire fence, and the three entered the complex. Mtimkulu went to the storage tank, Ntshekang to the gas cylinders and Molokoane went to the refraction towers. When he saw security guards, Molokoane changed his plans and headed instead to the gas cylinders. After planting their magnetic mines, the three left the security area of the refinery along different routes.
At around 23:40, guards at the SASOL I plant noticed a hole in the security fence, and while they were investigating, an explosion sent flames into the night sky. At about the same time, while patrolling on his bicycle, a black security guard at the NATREF plant noticed a hole in t
