Drakensberg region under fracking threat

First fracking licences to be issued this year, Parliament told
24 FEB 2016
Cape Town - The first licences for hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, should be issued this year, an official from the department of mineral resources said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Pietermaritzburg - With fracking applications for KwaZulu-Natal already being received, researchers have said that fracking would not be viable in South Africa for another 20 to 30 years.

Last month, Rhino Oil and Gas Exploration South Africa announced its intention to explore 3,5 million hectares of land in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, affecting areas such as Ulundi, Melmoth, Pongola, Newcastle and Vryheid.

In addition, the company, which is also currently seeking rights to explore sites in the Free State and Eastern Cape, has lodged an application to explore two sites in Pietermaritzburg and its surrounds.

In total, the company is seeking rights to explore almost 7,4 million hectares in South Africa, of which more than half is in KZN.

A senior government official has spoken out strongly about the high risks of water pollution from gas fracking in one of the driest countries in the world.

Namisha Muthraparsad, acting deputy director for water use in the national Department of Water and Sanitation, warned yesterday that South Africa, as the 30th-driest country in the world, could not allow petroleum companies to pump contaminated water back underground during the gas fracking process.

“It is too risky, there are too many uncertainties, so we will not allow underground disposal of wastewater and other water produced in the fracking process,” Muthraparsad told a seminar on fracking and unconventional gas production at Cedara agricultural college near Pietermaritzburg.

She stressed that her department was neither for nor against hydraulic fracturing, a technology developed in the US to release natural gases such as methane by fracturing (fracking) deep underground rock formations using a combination of high-pressure water, sand and chemicals.

However, as the government regulator charged with ensuring wise use and protection of South Africa’s dwindling water resources, her department was already saddled with the legacy of underground water pollution from other mining industries.

Because of the shortage of clean surface water in rivers, dams and lakes, it was becoming more essential to protect underground water resources from further contamination. Noting that fracking often involved “mini-explosions” as deep as 5km underground, Muthraparsad said unconventional gas recovery processes led to the release of large volumes of saline water which could be contaminated with radioactive minerals and potentially toxic fracking fluids.

Exploration Right ER346 over swathes of farms in KZN and Free State.
Public Meetings: Monday 3 Dec 15h00 Blue Haze Country Lodge, Estcourt
Tuesday 4 Dec 10h00 Bergville Farmers Association Hall
Tuesday 4 Dec 15h00 La La Nathi Country Guest House, Harrismith
Wednesday 5 Dec 15h00 Memel Farmers Association Hall
Thursday 6 Dec 15h00 Martie Lotz Hall, Clarens
Friday 7 Dec 10h00 Library Hall, Lindley

Contact Matthew Hemming for all the information on this application: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.