Paper short abstract:

The lifting on the moratorium for shale gas exploration in South Africa's semi-arid Karoo raises questions about land and water grabbing by transnational oil corporations. The paper looks at potential negative impacts of the industry and suggests how these need to be controlled.

Paper long abstract:

A number of transnational oil companies have recently been given the go ahead by the South African government to initiate fracking for the exploration of shale gas in a semi-arid part of the country, the Karoo region, despite a lack of robust regulatory procedures being in place. When she lifted the moratorium, the minister of mineral resources provided no indications of the source from which the substantial quantity of fresh water necessary for fracking would be derived. Existing economic sectors fear the contamination by the oil companies of local groundwater, on which all farming and tourism in the area relies, and a subsequent loss of livelihoods, biodiversity and heritage. In the race to exploit the resource, encouraged by the National Planning Commission, a grab will be made for up to 20 per cent of South Africa's land surface. The country's mineral rights are not vested in landowners but in the state, which has allocated them to the oil transnationals. Taken together with scarce water resources, the cost of the industry's activities will be far higher than the temporary energy dividend. The presentation looks at potential impacts of shale gas exploration and mining, raises questions about the functioning of the new South African democracy in deciding on controversial new technologies, and proposes steps that need to be put in place in the short 6-12 month window granted by the minister for this purpose.