Sunflower fields, Sasolburg, Free State province

Sunflowers are annual flowers that are native to the Americas, now grown throughout the world. One of their peculiarities is heliotropism. At sunrise, the faces of most sunflowers are turned towards the east. Over the course of the day, they follow the sun from east to west, while at night they return to an eastward orientation.

Sasolburg, a large industrial town in the far north of the Free State province, was established in 1954 in order to provide housing and facilities for Sasol or "South African Coal, Oil and Gas Company" employees.

WIth very extensive coal reservesin South Africa, the political developments of the late 1960s and early 1970s, specifically the trade embargoes against apartheid, made the operation of the pilot plant to refine oil from coal a priority to the government.

PHOTO SOURCE: Friedrich von Horsten, courtesy of, and copyright, South Africa Tourism, a department of the government of South Africa, used with permission.

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