A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Johannesburg, 1997. / Faced with the potential threat of oil embargoes imposed by producer countries for political reasons, the consumer countries reacted by creating different alternatives which granted them some energy independence and security of supply by using alternative products and technologies available in their own countrles, Can a middle level developing country break out of the cycle of dependency in the area of energy? This dissertation investigates the strategy developed and implemented by South Africa between 1973 and 1993, which invested heavily in the generation of fuel extracted from coal in order to rescue its country from crisis and support it through critical periods of history. / AC2017