Cape Town - Agri SA has vowed to continue to resist onshore fracking in the interest of food security and the environment by all means at their disposal.
This, after the Minister of Mineral Resources (DMR), Gwede Mantashe, announced that the groundwork for oil and gas exploration in the Karoo has been conducted.
Janse Rabie, legal and policy executive at Agri SA, said they are generally not opposed to oil and gas as energy sources, but would far prefer renewable sources, as well as green hydrogen.
“We are, however, firmly opposed to onshore shale gas exploration and production by way of hydraulic fracturing, due to unanswered questions as to the availability of the vast amounts of water fracking will require at the expense of agriculture, as well as concerns with respect to pollution of soil, water, and air. This is a mandated position adopted by our highest decision-making body,” said Rabie.
According to DMR Spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi, the government has completed its long-standing geo-environmental assessment studies of the Karoo, which were initiated to evaluate, among other things, the baseline and profiling of shallow/fresh water, geo-technical assessment, and seismic profiling in the Karoo Rift Basin.
“The report was a pre-requisite for the government to consider the development of shale gas in the Karoo safely and to address the concerns raised by the public at the time the prospects were made for shale gas in 2010,” said Buthelezi.
Rabie said they are keenly aware of this and are following the developments in this regard, and that with the support of their legal advisor, Agri SA has commented on proposed regulations published by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) and of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
He said they will continue calling on the government to collectively denounce shale gas exploration and production by way of "fracking" and assume a global leadership position in this regard.
“We are mindful and vigilant concerning conventional gas exploration and production, assuming that it will not have dire impacts on water and other natural resources at the expense of agriculture. Any changes in planning from conventional drilling towards fracking will be opposed,” said Rabie.
Asked why it is important for the government to continue with this project despite the concerns of NGOs and other environmental organisations, Buthelezi said the government imposed a moratorium on further exploration of shale gas in response to the concerns of the public and NGOs, until such time that this research has been concluded.
“As a caring government that is responsive to the public’s concerns, we are comfortable that this report has addressed the concerns of the public and more, to safeguard a passage of safe and environmentally apt development of shale gas in South Africa,” said Buthelezi.
He said gas is deemed to be one of the energy sources that are considered as part of the just energy transition, and this will augment South Africa’s policy on the just transition while also ensuring energy security and advancing the country towards its multilateral commitments to net zero emissions.
“South Africans have felt the brunt of the energy supply shortage immensely. This development will not only create employment opportunities from exploration but will augment energy security, support the economy and jobs, and enhance energy independence, to name but a few,” said Buthelezi.
The Green Connection, a social and environmental justice organisation based in Cape Town, recently held a media briefing where they explained how oil and gas exploration also risks harm to marine species and functioning ecosystems, which in turn affects the well-being of coastal communities and small-scale fishers by putting their livelihoods and food security at risk.
They believe that pursuing fossil fuels does little to address South Africa’s economic crisis, and much less to address the energy crisis.
“What is difficult to reconcile, however, is that there is this urgent need for decisive action to address the climate crisis – which means moving away from fossil fuels—while at the same time, there are several offshore oil and gas projects underway, with more still being proposed,” said Liziwe McDaid, the organisation’s Strategic Lead.
She said when it comes to gas, the emission of methane is 85 times more harmful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas over a 20-year period.
"Oil and gas should not be part of a just transition, alternatives are available, and we do not have to drill our oceans. We know that this is more about making money than benefiting local communities.
“The way we stopped apartheid was from the ground up and this is also the way we will stop the ‘blue apartheid’," warned McDaid.