Drakensberg region under fracking threat

Durban - The hunt for gas and oil in a massive strip of KwaZulu-Natal is likely to be scaled down considerably after a major public backlash and threats to take a Texas exploration company to court.

The local subsidiary of Texas-based Rhino Resources has applied for environmental authorisation to search for petroleum on almost 10 000 farms in the Midlands - an area covering more than 16% of the province’s surface area.

However, after a series of heated public meetings in several towns last month, Rhino consultants were cautioned that they faced court action because of potential contraventions of the new “fracking regulations” that ban any drilling or hydraulic fracturing in areas where this could pollute rivers, boreholes and wetlands.