It was a case of "now you see them, now you don't". That is how fast the cooling towers at the old power station at Athlone came down - 4 minutes before schedule.It happened quickly and indeed we were caught unawares because they pushed the button 4 minutes ahead of the scheduled time at noon. Also, there had been a rain shower and most of us had our cameras hidden at the time. I managed to get only one shot of the actual implosion, because my camera was hidden under my sweater. But I did manage to capture some of the atmosphere at Pinelands from where we watched. 
The two "salt and pepper" towers had been a Cape Town landmark for decades since they were commissioned in the early 1960s. The power station was closed down in 2003 and after it bacame clear that the tower structures had become dangerous, the decision was made to implode them, following the example of similar cooling towers at power stations in other parts of the world.
I watched the event from Pinelands where my family live, together with my nephew Ulwin and niece Tara. It was one of those events where you know that people will say in future "I was there when..." It took only a few seconds to destroy the towers, but somehow it had become a large, sociable event with many thousands people of all ages and backgrounds sharing the experience of witnessing it first hand. No decision has yet been taken about what the area will be used for in future. There have been many ideas and in the end it will probably end up being used for a mixture of residential, commercial and perhaps cultural and educational purposes. We'll have to see..
Also see my article at Digital Journal here where there are some excellent pictures courtesy of the demolition company Ross Demolitions and a video.
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