Africa Wild

Toko wrote:[South Africa's proud record of conservation.....

.... 600 of the country's rhinos will have been killed by poachers by the end of the year

And by that, I mean the vote of one particular ­member of the elite: me.

My decision to stop voting DA is not, as you might assume, the result of a growing appreciation for the ANC. Ha! The very thought! I am an educational psychologist. If I was caught voting for the party responsible for the textbook scandal and all the associated nonsense, my ­colleagues might kick me out.

Similarly, my decision is not owed to Ms Zille's well-publicised Twitter-related gaffes, nor the apparent ­difficulty she experiences in admitting that she is wrong about something. No, it is a very different issue that has led to me burn my DA membership card and take the drastic, irreversible step of "unliking" its page on Facebook. The issue is fracking.

Late last year, the DA announced that it would no longer oppose shale gas exploration and the associated hydraulic fracturing required to buoy the foul substance to the surface. Oh, it made the normal political grunts and squeaks about how it needs to be done "safely" and "responsibly", but the fact is that it caved in. And it did so, as far as I can tell, against the wishes of a large part of the electorate.

But it is not even this lack of concordance with its support base that bothers me. What really bugs me about this is that it illustrates that the DA is distressingly ignorant about the most important issue facing this country: global warming.

I wonder whether Zille has looked over the updated climate-change projection maps. They make for interesting reading. For example, the Union of Concerned Scientists predicts that, if global warming continues at the current rate, maize production on the highveld may suffer to a degree that will threaten access to food for millions of our fellow South Africans. Indeed, the Centre for Global Development places our country in the one of the highest risk categories for losing overall food security as our planet warms. Likewise, one might hope that the premier of the Western Cape would be aware that those same scientists also predict that we will lose 20% to 40% of all our protea species as heat and drought grind them into extinction.

Consequences will be horrific
Make no mistake, dear reader, harsh international regulations limiting the use of fossil fuels will be enacted within the next 10 years, because if they are not the consequences will be horrific for all of us and those listed in the paragraph above will be just the beginning.

So the idea that the DA is going to sit back and allow our economy to be shackled to just another way of pumping carbon into the atmosphere strikes me as thoroughly ridiculous. I expect that sort of behaviour from the current ANC administration. It has a sterling track record of not planning ahead.

Some will claim that the seriousness of global warming compels us to accommodate hydraulic fracturers, because the natural gas they obtain is less of a carbon pollutant than other energy sources like coal or petrol. This is, of course, true, but it is analogous to saying that the way to save a burning house is by covering it with slightly smaller matches.

These few points are enough for me. I need not talk about fracking's appalling safety record worldwide or the huge risks it poses to the local environment. I will not take up any of your time to point out that, because fracking chemicals are so slow to break down, fracking sites need to be constantly monitored and maintained for literally centuries into the future. But I would like to mention just one more thing. Even the fracking companies themselves admit that there is a chance that fracking will lead to the contamination of our groundwater. So, by allowing fracking, we are threatening our national water resources and we are doing so at a time when climate scientists are warning us of a dramatic increase in the risk of drought.

Dear reader, that is just crazy. And I am a psychologist, I know what crazy looks like.

So, I am sorry DA, but I will not vote for you in the next election, nor any subsequent election and I will do whatever is within my meagre power to convince overprivileged white Capetonians to do the same. I do not know whether we have a green party, or whether it is any good. But if we do and it is, then it will have my vote until such time as either the DA or the ANC stops its support of fracking and other anti-environmental activities and starts being serious about saving this country from the ­imminent impact of global warming. – Andrew Verrijdt, Cape Town

FAX / EMAIL
TO: Department of Mineral Resources
December 2012

Dear Sir

REPRESENTATIONS AND COMMENTS IN RESPONSE TO PROPOSED RESTRICTION
UNDER SECTION 49(1) OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
ACT, 2002

We act for the Treasure Karoo Action Group ("our client").

We refer to the invitation for representations issued under section 49(1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 ("MPRDA"), Notice No. 932 in the Government Gazette of 16 November 2012 (the "Notice"). The Notice relays the Honourable Minister's intention to restrict the granting of any petroleum permits in the Karoo area received after 1 February 2011.

It appears that written representations in respect of the Notice are to reach the Department of Mineral Resources ("DMR") by no later than 14 days from the date of publication. We submit that a 14 day time period is insufficient for the formulation of such representations. This is in stark contrast to the general practice of allowing at least 30 days for proper representations. The Honourable Minister provides no reason for this contracted period.

Any decision made without affording our client an opportunity to object meaningfully is contrary to the section 2 principles of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998, ("NEMA"). The requirement that comments or objections be provided on such short notice does not amount to equitable and effective participation. This is a violation of our client's or its members' rights to lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair administrative action, as any objections or comments would be rushed and inadequately considered. The vague nature of the Notice further prejudices our client's opportunity for adequate comment.

The Minister makes no attempt to specify the nature of the restrictions to be imposed on applications for petroleum related licences submitted post 1 February 2011. It is impossible to provide meaningful comment and objections absent any information as to the true meaning of the intended restrictions. We submit that the 14 days provided in the Notice be understood as 14 working days from the date of publication of the Notice, thereby allowing the DMR to consider representations made up to and including Thursday, 6 December 2012. Such an understanding of the time period for comment affords no prejudice to the DMR.

In addition to the above, our client objects to the Notice on the following grounds:

1. As the proposed restriction (in whatever form it may take) does not apply to applications for exploration licences received and accepted prior to 1 February 2011, it effectively allows for the granting of shale gas related exploration licences to Falcon Oil and Gas Limited, Shell Exploration Company BV and Bundu Oil and Gas (Pty) Ltd (collectively the "applicants") in response to the exploration applications submitted by the applicants prior to 1 February 2011. No justification is given for distinguishing between those applications received before and after 1 February 2011.

2. The ultimate purpose of an exploration licence is the achievement of a production licence following the confirmation of shale gas reserves during the exploration process.
Consequently, failure to restrict the exploration applications of the applicants clearly allows for the production of shale gas in the Karoo. This is even more so because prior
representations to the Petroleum Agency SA ("PASA"), as the designated agency, have yielded no clarity as to whether the granting of exploration licences implies a legal obligation to grant production licences. The production of shale gas is internationally challenged because of its serious environmental effects. It is even more startling that such a process may be allowed to proceed unimpeded in the Karoo region with its characteristic scarce water resources, high water table and sensitive geology.

3. The ability to investigate, assess and evaluate the impact of a proposed gas exploration project is contingent on providing sufficient details about the nature of the proposed activity. Our client submits that the applicant's environmental management programmes ("EMPs") are entirely lacking in the details necessary for proper evaluation. The impact of the proposed explorations is site-specific, particularly in light of environmentally sensitive components of the Karoo region, the need for approximate and viable water sources within this dry area, and the possibility of new access roads and sumps for storage and disposal of waste water.

However, the applicants' EMPs provide little indication of the sites of the proposed exploration or of the number of wells entailed. Any perception that the exploration projects will entail only a single well is inconsistent with the description of these projects within the applicant's EMPs. Numerous wells spread over a large area are necessary to determine and map the geometrical dimensions of oil and gas reservoirs and to demarcate stratigraphy and reservoir continuity.

In light of the applicants' vague EMPs, our client submits that it will be necessary for the applicants to submit revised and significantly more detailed programmes before the
Honourable Minister is able to make an appropriate decision on the basis of such applications. Inevitably these revised EMPs will need to be submitted after the 1 February 2011 deadline suggested in the Notice.

4. The Notice makes pre-existing applications conditional on the authorisation of "actual hydraulic fracturing" only following "appropriate amendments" to the MPRDA regulations. The Notice considers neither the practical feasibility of such a condition nor the precise meaning of "actual hydraulic fracturing". Exploration for a shale gas is, by definition, exploration for an unconventional gas resource in rocks of low permeability. The geological formation of this gas bearing rock needs to be altered using artificial stimulation such as hydraulic fracturing to allow for gas extraction. Our client submits that an assessment of the shale gas reserves within rock of such low permeability is not feasible absent the use of vertical and/or horizontal drilling to penetrate the shale rock. The serious environmental effects related to the hydraulic fracturing process apply to both vertical and horizontal drilling. In light of the risk of such extensive environmental degradation it is essential that the Honourable Minister clarifies whether "actual hydraulic fracturing" is understood to encompass both vertical and horizontal drilling.

5. The Honourable Minister further fails to specify those "appropriate amendments" to be made to the regulations under the MPRDA. Nor does it indicate whether the Honourable Minister is finally to effect the Minerals and Petroleum Resource Development Amendment Act 49 of 2008, promulgated on 19 April 2009, regarding the transfer of the environmental authorisations function in respect of mining and petroleum activities from the DMR to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Provincial Environmental Departments under NEMA. It is incongruous that the award of environmental authorisations in respect of mining and petroleum activities remains under the auspices of the DMR with its mandate to promote minerals and petroleum investment, particularly in light of the Minerals and Petroleum Resource Development Amendment Act, 2008.

6. The Notice provides no clarification as to why the amorphous restriction is to apply only in respect of the designated areas depicted in annexure A to the Notice. The concerns related to hydraulic fracturing should apply to South Africa as a whole and not only to those areas in which the most opposition has been raised thus far.

In view of the above objections our client calls for the Honourable Minister to amend the Notice so that:

(a) the nature of the proposed restrictions is adequately detailed so as to provide for a
meaningful notice and comment procedure; and

(b) the restrictions are extended temporaneously to apply to those applications received prior to 1 February 2011 and geographically to apply to the country as a whole and not only to the Karoo region.

The extensive environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, a subject of escalating international concern, cannot apply only to those applications received in the Karoo post 1 February 2011. The Honourable Minister has provided no details of the nature of the precautionary approach suggested in the Notice nor any reasoning at why this precautionary approach should not also apply to those applications received prior to 1 February 2011.

Yours faithfully
ALISON MCKENZIE