I hereby oppose the current applications for licenses to pursue shale gas extraction in South Africa. The Karoo region is a delicate, semi-arid agricultural area and cannot afford to waste or threaten any water supplies in the chemical-laden extraction process nor contaminate its pristine air with toxicants and dust pollution. The invasive industrial process will threaten the ones it claims to help the most by damaging ecosystems and presenting health problems to the rural and often, already marginalised, populations. 

Pursuing shale gas - a process that leaks large amounts of methane with a proven carbon footprint 24x that of carbon dioxide - will undermine South Africa’s climate commitments by adding another fossil fuel to our existing dependence on coal. 

With a growing amount of evidence highlighting the exorbitant cost of shale gas extraction outside of North America and sounding alarm at the rapidly depleting shale gas wells, I hereby call for the South African government to rethink the unsustainable commitment to fracking in the Karoo and, instead, reassess the country’s energy future. 

I believe that we must dissolve the Eskom monopoly and open up our grid to the many interested independent power producers who can solve our electricity shortfall faster than shale gas, coal or nuclear projects that costs billions of rands to develop. We need to readdress our energy mix and factor in the enormous growth in efficiency of renewable energy resources. 

I hereby support my country’s vision in obtaining growth, equality and job creation and urge my government to rather achieve this by decentralising the grid and investing in a long term, responsible energy strategy.