Sand, speed and space: covering the countdown to a record

I was having coffee with a friend on a day off when a phone call came ... from the office. I answered, wondering what grave mistake I might have made. But it was a request: could I cover the launch of the 365-day countdown to Bloodhound SSC’s land-speed record attempt for the Northern Cape Tourism Authority (NCTA)?

They had me at land-speed record, but the SSC stands for supersonic car, which, for an engineer’s daughter, is like finding liquorice in a forgotten jar. Could I do it? You bet I could.

British land-speed record holder Andy Green and his team of technophiles have isolated the Northern Cape’s Hakskeenpan as the only mud and salt pan anywhere – absolutely anywhere – in the world that’s good enough for his attempt to reach 1 600km/h (1 000mph) in a car. Green, long, lanky and laid-back, has already broken the sound barrier, in 1997 when he hit 1 227km/h (763mph).

It’s a major coup for the Northern Cape, set to bring in around 2 000 journalists and film crews in 2017 when Green starts working towards this astounding speed. He hopes to reach it in early 2018.

The local community has benefited, too – not only do they have some of South Africa’s fastest internet, but the Bloodhound project has helped improve infrastructure in the form of a fresh water pipeline. Many schools now have Wi-Fi, and teachers are using the project to spark interest in “STEM” education: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

And so, before dawn on Tuesday 10 October, I found myself rattling along dusty Northern Cape roads (thank goodness I didn’t have to drive). The destination was Hakskeenpan. That’s it there, looking like a lake between Namibia and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

It was still dark – and cold – when we got to the pan. People were very busy, though, setting up outside broadcast studios, and wandering around purposefully in headgear, clipboards tucked under their arms. I had coffee and rusks, feeling rather left out.

The sun broke on the horizon. Yay! Time to look busy, too. I took photos. I tried to tweet, but the pan has MTN signal only (set up expressly for the Bloodhound SSC project). Our equipment isn’t linked to MTN. This was a bit of a freak-out for me, but I continued taking photos and asking around.

A group of boys skittered across the pan driving their own SSCs, made traditional-style with wire. I was glad I was wearing jeans – I knelt and then lay on the rough pan trying to muster the best shot.

Then it was off to Bloodhound’s media centre (on a dune overlooking the pan) to use their Wi-Fi to post pictures and comments to social media. A big thank you to Bloodhound’s Schalk Mouton for allowing us to piggyback on their signal.

The day heated up. Some of the Mier community – a group of San living near the eastern edge of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where Hakskeenpan lies – gave a short display of traditional practices: another great photo opportunity.

It was then back to the media centre to file, and then down to the pan for the formalities of the day, and the heart-wrenching medals handover, in which medals were handed by Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas and Green to members of the Mier community.

Since November 2010 the community has worked to remove nearly 16 000 tonnes of rocks, stones and even pebbles the size of 50c pieces from the pan. It has to be immaculate or Green’s attempt will end in a ball of flame. During that time several of the initial 340 people contracted to work the pan have died (not through doing the work!). Family members, many tearful, received their medals.