The city lies 13 kilometres south of the Gauteng province and forms part of the Vaal Triangle (Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Sasolburg) region.

Plans were made for a production plant to be built in the Eastern Transvaal to produce approximately 25% of the national fuel requirements.

On 2 June 1980, Sasolburg was attacked[3] by Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the African National Congress's (ANC) military wing.

[3] Police Minister Louis le Grange claimed that the then-exiled Joe Slovo, of the banned South African Communist Party, was a key figure.

Newspapers that supported the ruling National Party claimed that, in fact, Muammar Qaddafi had masterminded the sabotage, and that Russians had been training terrorists in Libya.

[3] On 1 October 1987, Sasol 1's management called in police and vigilantes to break up a workers’ strike resulting from a wage dispute.

SASOL still denies responsibility and, as a result of the refinery's designation as a National Key Point, the actions taken against workers remain secret until today.