HEALTH AND SAFETY •
All images supplied Supplied by Previn Pillay
THAT TIME I BLEW UP THE PLANT – A STORY FROM THE FIELD
By Previn Pillay , founder of Pyromin Consulting
Industrial leadership isn ’ t just strategy and metrics . It ’ s the moments when everything collapses , the stakes are human lives , and you realise the actual weight of your role .
This story isn ’ t from a textbook or a polished conference speech . It ’ s raw , honest , and from the field — a moment that stripped leadership to its barest , exposing what truly matters when everything hangs by a thread .
The flash before the boom I ’ ll never forget the sound . Thunderous claps echoed around the building , reverberating like some primal warning . As I sprinted toward Pot Room A , the air itself felt charged . My focus was singular : reach my team .
As I rounded the corner into the corridor , I saw it . Jagged bolts of electric-blue lightning raced down the steel girders , staccato bursts lighting up the pot room like an apocalyptic storm . Each flash burned into my retinas . My mind registered one thing : my team was in there .
Then , it happened .
The air seemed to compress , and the sound vanished into an eerie , silent void . The world pulsed — just once .
And then it hit .
BOOM !
The explosion tore through the pot room . A fireball of searing light and heat swallowed everything . A 75-tonne electrochemical cell — the heart of the operation — erupted and hurled partially into the basement , leaving twisted wreckage in its wake . Chunks of 20-kilogramme anode bars hurtled through the air like missiles . The reinforced concrete floor fractured , and steel gratings flew like confetti .
I kept running . My legs moved instinctively , even as my chest tightened with dread . Acrid and suffocating smoke filled the room . My only thought was : Where is my team ? Please let them be alive .
Survival amid chaos Through the thick , black haze , I saw movement . Sizwe , the shift supervisor , stumbled toward me from the emergency stop panel , coughing and spluttering . Relief flooded me as I grabbed his arm .
“ Sizwe ! Where ’ s the rest of the team ? Are they okay ?”
“ They ’ re outside ,” he managed between heaving breaths . “ I told them to run when we couldn ’ t control it .”
I closed my eyes , choking back the wave of gratitude threatening to overwhelm me . My team was safe . The plant was a war zone , the damage catastrophic , but my people were alive . That was all that mattered .
My focus was singular : reach my team www . africanmining . co . za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • February 2025 • 29