The government will stop the exploration of shale gas in South
Africa's Karoo region if it is found that hydraulic fracturing
or "fracking" poses any risk to the water table or to the Square
Kilometre Array project, says Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu.
Presenting the findings of the government's investigation of the
environmental and social effects of hydraulic fracturing in the
Karoo Basin, Shabangu said in Pretoria on Tuesday that the
report laid down conditions that could lead to the exploration
process being halted. "We are a water-scarce country," Shabangu
said. "If the process is such that there is a threat to water in
South Africa, we would have to stop the process ... if there is
going to be an extremely negative impact on [the SKA] and they
cannot mitigate it, we may need to stop the process." Moratorium
on fracking exploration lifted The Cabinet last week approved
the lifting of a moratorium imposed in February last year,
allowing licences for the exploration of shale gas in the
country to be issu