Post B2QEZuUtcYafRHcE4G by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
(DIR) More posts by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
(DIR) Post #B2OO8LdriN1okBO3eK by ZaneSelvans@social.coop
2026-01-15T20:33:12Z
0 likes, 3 repeats
Holy shit I was not aware.https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/world/africa/renfrew-christie-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ElA.l_uO.quxTSV0lHbGV&smid=url-share
(DIR) Post #B2OO8UFNiln7Qr08Ei by ZaneSelvans@social.coop
2026-01-15T20:34:07Z
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After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC, noting that he had made sure the confession included “all my recommendations to the African National Congress” about the best way to sabotage Koeberg and other facilities.
(DIR) Post #B2OO8cPbMeigkrqPHE by ZaneSelvans@social.coop
2026-01-15T20:34:24Z
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“And, gloriously, the judge read it out in court,” Dr. Christie added. “So my recommendations went from the judge’s mouth” straight to the A.N.C.Two years later, in December 1982, Koeberg was bombed by white A.N.C. operatives who had gotten jobs at the facility. They followed Dr. Christie’s instructions to the letter.
(DIR) Post #B2OO8krtvK6syx97Uu by ZaneSelvans@social.coop
2026-01-17T05:20:24Z
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The guy who actually planted the bombs, and then escaped to Swaziland by bike.https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-10-31-the-man-who-blew-up-koeberg/
(DIR) Post #B2QE3m8hA1DiFZuMu8 by donray@mastodon.online
2026-01-18T00:33:39Z
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@ZaneSelvans Wow. Someone should make a movie. Also, the article mentioned that the US initially helped South Africa with their nuclear program. I need to double check that, but WTF!
(DIR) Post #B2QE3n8jRMqNLyvubI by khm@hj.9fs.net
2026-01-18T07:38:06Z
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"Atoms for Peace" -- the US helped a few dozen countries build reactors in the 1950s.
(DIR) Post #B2QE3oO0o2f1Df5d3Y by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-18T21:37:12Z
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@khm @donray South Africa is an important producer of uranium, which is recovered from gold-mine tailings. In fact South Africa supplied a substantial amount of the uranium required for the Manhattan Project, and for US nuclear activities of all kinds for years afterwards.South Africa also had an early interest in nuclear power, because of the long distance between its major coalfields and the large industrial and population centers of the Cape Town and East Cape regions.
(DIR) Post #B2QEZuUtcYafRHcE4G by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-18T21:43:03Z
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@ZaneSelvans There is nothing laudable about attacking a power station.Koeberg is an entirely civil installation, and was if anything an obstacle in the way of the South African nuclear weapons program. Not only did it divide their available trained manpower, but to get it built they had to allow much more international scrutiny (including inspections) of their nuclear industry, which had been been cloaked in secrecy.But the anti-nuclear zealots are arrogant.
(DIR) Post #B2RpxPR8MudZFpR05I by Mabande@mastodon.social
2026-01-19T06:38:56Z
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@publius @ZaneSelvans "an entirely civilian installation" propping up a system of oppression.
(DIR) Post #B2RpxQeHrUkj0ub1E0 by Mabande@mastodon.social
2026-01-19T08:31:30Z
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@publius Was busy for a while, but just to get back to this: "Thanks to the system of forced labor, South Africa made the cheapest electricity in the world, which aided the process of uranium enrichment"- But of course you're correct in condemning those horrible horrible "anti nuclear zealots" who caused such harm to the *checks notes* poor racist Apartheid state and it's civilians relying on forced labour to produce electricity.Clown.
(DIR) Post #B2RpxRmpdDBKXhbMBM by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-19T16:16:32Z
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@Mabande Let there be no doubt : the National Party government was thoroughly bad, rotten from top to bottom in every way, and the kindest thing that can be said about the apartheid system is that it was grotesque.But if South Africa was employing forced labour in COAL MINING, a nuclear power plant, WHICH REDUCES THE DEMAND FOR COAL, is not exactly supporting that.Nor is the enriching of uranium for bomb-making at all relevant to the Koeberg nuclear power station.
(DIR) Post #B2RqbDbPmrIs8PE3km by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-19T16:23:45Z
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@Mabande @ZaneSelvans Can you seriously believe that the oppressed populations of 1980s South Africa would have been better off with less electricity?Not to mention, of course, that Koeberg has generated three times as many kilowatt-hours under majority rule in South Africa as it generated under the National Party. This while underinvestment in infrastructure by the new governments has allowed shortages of both power and water to develop across the country. Koeberg is vital to Cape Town!
(DIR) Post #B2T09sHW8vwytETkwa by Mabande@mastodon.social
2026-01-19T20:42:14Z
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@publius @ZaneSelvans Yes, the oppressed populations of Apartheid South Africa were better off by actions causing damage to the regime's investments.Even when it directly affected the less than a third that had occasional access to electricity.You know what? During the time of the SA boycotts, the conservative party leader in these parts claimed the boycotts were bad because they would "put the poor [slur]s out of their jobs".And that's exactly how you sound.Racist nonsense yapping.
(DIR) Post #B2T09tPhvy60OvJoLg by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-20T05:45:35Z
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@Mabande @ZaneSelvans Paul Simon's breaking of the "cultural boycott" with "Graceland" made black South Africans, who had been effectively invisible to the outside world for decades, suddenly visible, giving them far more power internationally.South Africa should have experienced a huge "peace dividend" after 1995, having shed the costs of a civil war as well as of international sanctions. That should have shown up in housing, medical care, education, et cetera for the majority. And yet!