Durban — Agri SA has urged the government to withdraw the new draft regulations to govern hydraulic fracturing or fracking, and reject all plans to permit fracking in South Africa.
It said its plea was based on the risks entailed in the fracking for the country’s scarce water supply.
This is contained in Agri SA’s submitted comments on the new draft regulations to govern fracking.
Agri SA’s law and policy executive Janse Rabie said allowing fracking in South Africa will have a devastating impact on the country’s ability to produce food. There is an abundance of scientific research indicating that hydraulic fracturing poses an extreme risk to the environment, especially to water resources, she said.
“This is exacerbated by our limited current knowledge about the long-term consequences of hydraulic fracturing.”
Rabie said hydraulic fracturing requires vast amounts of water, during both exploration and production.
“Owing to the chemicals used in the process, water used during the exploration and production of petroleum becomes contaminated.”
This would create a significant pollution risk to deep and shallow underground water resources, surface water resources, and the surrounding environment, she said.
“South Africa is already a highly water-stressed country. Our country faces a 17% water deficit by 2030 with an estimated investment of R33 billion required each year over the next 10 years to avoid the looming shortage.”
The country’s agricultural sector can in theory currently provide South Africa and its neighbouring countries with sufficient food, she said.
“However, indications are that due to population growth, food production will have to increase dramatically in the near and medium term.
“The inescapable reality is that South Africa cannot accommodate a high water consuming and polluting onshore gas industry, without sacrificing the ability for the agricultural sector to feed SA’s growing population, as well as the surrounding neighbouring countries.”
Environmental governance in South Africa, which includes integrated water-resources management, is extremely concerning. The track record of the government in all three spheres on environmental management of South Africa’s water and other natural resources provides clear evidence that the government is failing in its constitutional duties in this regard, she said.
The recently published National State of Water Report by the Department of Water and Sanitation emphasises this point, she said, as the regulations stipulate that “the government’s regulation and management of waste disposal facilities have been shown to be wholly inadequate”.
Daily News