On Wednesday, Minister Nene announced, as part of his Budget Speech, that R108 million has been allocated to preparing for shale gas mining.

Mining Weekly reported that “besides enforcement activities, such as inspections, the department would conduct research and advocacy work on fracking in preparation for licensing shale gas exploration and for monitoring compliance with the regulations once exploration starts”.

“The department receives an additional R108-million over the period for this work,” said Treasury.

Responding to the announcement, Jonathan Deal, CEO of Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG) called it a “double edged sword”. “On the one hand, it is encouraging to see that the department realises the enormous amount of work and research that needs to be conducted before South Africa would be in a position to even consider shale gas exploration and production. On the other hand, our government appears to be ignoring international developments around shale gas which are showing documented negative impacts on communities, the fiscus and the environment.”

“We will be writing to the Minister to enquire about the nature of the budgeted items this money is earmarked for. It is critical that any money spent is on actions to clarify the fundamental issues that have characterised the discourse on shale gas. All necessary aspects must be thoroughly dealt with to avoid a waste of tax payers’ money and an unworkable energy policy in South Africa. If not, more tax payers’ money would be wasted and this exercise would have been an expensive afterthought. TKAG and AfriForum are determined to ensure constitutional adherence, transparency, accountability and good governance with regard to shale gas,” Deal concluded.