Former fencing champion sabotaged South Africa's Koeberg nuclear plant and vanished
Rodney Wilkinson, a former national fencing champion, placed four bombs at the Koeberg nuclear facility in December 1982 and disappeared shortly afterward.
Rodney Wilkinson, once South Africa's top fencer, became an engineer at the Koeberg nuclear power station. In late 1982 he was enlisted to sabotage the plant and, over several days, placed four bombs within the facility. The devices detonated in a series of explosions, but no deaths were reported.
Following the sabotage he attended a farewell drink, then left the plant and vanished, later reappearing in Knysna where he has kept a low profile for decades. He now lives with friends Matilda and Greg Knill, rarely speaking about his past. His story illustrates the lengths some individuals took to resist the apartheid system.
Why it matters
The episode shows how internal sabotage was used against apartheid-era infrastructure.
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