There are several reasons why the papers filed by Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu in the North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday make interesting reading, and a statement by a group calling itself the Graaff-Reinet Shale Gas Community Forum is one of them.

The anti-fracking lobby is active, but until now I had heard nothing of, or from, this group, which comprises the Camdeboo Council of Churches, the Graaff-Reinet Youth Forum, the African National Congress’s Graaff-Reinet branch, the “local structures” of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Camdeboo Minister Fraternal, the Karoo Centre for Human Rights, the Small Farmers’ Association, the Camdeboo Youth Forum and the Camdeboo Sports Forum.

I am going to quote extensively from their founding statement, which was part of one of the emails filed with the court as annexures to the Department of Mineral Resources’ papers, after the forum met Petroleum Agency of SA CEO Mthozami Xiphu in June last year.

(As an aside, I am not sure why the forum met Mr Xiphu, or the ethics thereof, if they met with him as the chairman of the task team Ms Shabangu established to investigate fracking, given that the task team has not allowed other groups to meet it. However, this view, from people who live in the Karoo, is not often heard, and as such I believe it merits attention.)

“We the community of Graaff-Reinet, coming from the sector of the predominately historically disadvantaged population faced by high unemployment and daily hardships have gathered … to make our view known on the subject of energy groups’ applications to study the feasibility of extracting natural gas from shale rock formations beneath the Karoo area …To let people of our South Africa know that the opinions expressed by the so-called representatives of the Karoo communities are certainly not a reflection of the majority of the population represented by our forum.

“Several companies, including oil major Royal Dutch Shell and petrochemicals group Sasol*, are queuing for rights to explore for shale gas in the Karoo … There has been a public outcry over Shell’s and other companies’ applications, and the opposition to hydraulic fracturing is mainly centred on the following three areas:

“a) huge amounts of water required for both the drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and at the same time it is known the Karoo is semi-arid;

“b) it is alleged that the little fresh water that is available underground will be contaminated during the drilling and fracking processes; and

“c) It is alleged that the drilling and fracking processes are also harmful to the environment.

“Our Karoo is a breathtakingly beautiful place. We love it not less than others. Its heavenly fauna and flora and terrific aesthetics have created a lifestyle that defines all of us as its inhabitants. Our love for our Karoo would dictate to us that its immaculately clean environment must be protected, and that protection does not suggest that we must be utopian and believe it is a pristine place. Any insistence that suggests any activity that has the slightest risk to the beautiful environment of the Karoo must not be allowed to imply that the ’pristineness’ of the area must be maintained. The Karoo is no longer pristine. That is not practical, it is also not desirable. Man’s activities in the Karoo and in all other places of our universe have an environmental price. The key question here is to weigh the environmental and social costs of the fracking and determine if it is worth paying the price.

“In this context the forum welcomes the decision of our government to impose a moratorium on the granting of exploration licences while a multidisciplinary investigation of the environmental implications of such exploration is carried out.

“We trust that the investigation would enable our government to soberly assess the potential environmental risks, and this should be done in a scientific manner and in accordance with the process laid down in law, and not to succumb to the emotional and one-dimensional outbursts that have been made in the media and on other platforms. We believe that the potential environmental impacts are manageable and we are confident that our belief shall be supported by the investigation.

“The importance of preserving fresh water in our area cannot be overemphasised. We were therefore extremely concerned about the alleged contamination of water that normally occurs during the drilling and fracking process, but our concerns were adequately addressed by Shell in this case, that its technology does not allow any contact with fresh water during the process.

“The forum nevertheless remains concerned about the huge amounts of water required for drilling and fracking and this is against the background of the serious scarcity of water in the Karoo. We are told that one stage of fracking would require 2,3-million litres of water, and a well can have up to 14 fracking stages, which would mean consumption of 32-million litres of water. … We would want to be given a compelling and convincing strategy by Shell on how they intend to import the water, as it is clear that the Karoo cannot afford to compete with Shell and other applicants for water. We would also like to note that there are also other opportunities, such as recycling water.

“The demand for energy continues to increase in our country and there is no doubt that natural gas has a growing role to play in building a cleaner, more affordable and more secure energy future. Natural gas could also provide South Africa with a stable, sustainable energy source, supporting economic growth and bringing needed employment and economic opportunity to the Karoo. We do not believe the jobs created would come at the expense of others, mainly in the agricultural and tourism sectors. We have no jobs right now!”

* Sasol has subsequently said it will not pursue a licence to explore the Karoo for gas extraction.

Tags: fracking, Karoo