What happened to SANAE III?
SANAE III got buried beneath the snow and ice to its present depth of roughly 30-35 meters. Due to ice-pressure and glacial action, the base was declared unsafe for human habitation during the summer of 1994/1995, and was closed down. It is still accessible, and team members (at their own risk) sometimes still go down to have a look at how their predecessors used to live. In the spirit of the Madrid protocol, South Africa is currently decommissioning the SANAE III base. This is a difficult task and all materials / liquids that can have a negative impact on the environment are removed first.
