The Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG) has set up a legal team
to re-focus its legal strategy in preparation for an all-out confrontation to
prevent fracking in the Karoo.
The lobby group’s chairman Jonathan Deal said Cabinet was
expected to make a decision in August on whether to lift the existing moratorium
and allow exploratory drilling.
“We have engaged the well-established [legal] firm of
Cullinan Associates, who will bring fresh thinking and decades of
experience to our approach at this critical time in our campaign,” said
Deal.
“We have been preparing for the moratorium to be lifted for
a long time. We have selected the best legal minds that we can get to assist us
to take this matter to the Constitutional
Court, if need be,” he said.
Last year, the mineral resources department imposed a moratorium
on fracking with the aim of implementing a study into the environmental impact
of the controversial issue of drilling for shale gas in the Karoo
– a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Mining Minister Susan Shabangu announced last August that the
moratorium on prospecting for shale gas had been extended.
At the time, she said her department had to “engage with
the public” on the contentious matter and, therefore, the extension of the
moratorium was necessary.
Deal said the activists’ fears about the awarding of fracking
licences were awakened by statements made by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters
during a recent departmental meeting.
According to Deal, the minister said: “It would be wrong
for us to not use the resources that God left us with. This is a blessing that
God gives us, and we need to exploit [it] for the benefit of the people.”
She said the people of the Karoo
were “going hungry”.
“In the run-up to the decision by government we are
re-focusing our efforts to present a high-powered, well prepared legal campaign
which we believe will halt the minister in her tracks,” Deal said in a
statement.
“We believe we have the support of right-thinking South
Africans. We are not deterred by the fact that a number of people may have been
influenced by Shell’s relentless pro-fracking propaganda, regarding the size of
the gas deposits to the number of jobs that could be created,” he said.
“Our message to government is: ‘If you rule in favour of
fracking, under the current circumstances, prepare for a long and costly legal
battle as the people who will be most affected fight back’.”
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Article source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/2012/07/31/activists-prepare-for-fracking-fight