News

It’s all about the love this year for the Suidoosterfees as it celebrates love for the arts, people and the city of Cape Town with the theme “A Festival of Love”.

In its ninth year, the festival offers talents and flavour that promises a hearty treat for theatre lovers from February 14-19 at the Artscape Theatre.

Brand-new theatre works will be showcased.

The refreshingly decadent opera Viva la Mamma is set to premiere. The role of the mamma, Donna Agata, will be sung by the baritone Siyabulela Ntale.

Telling the stories of Mitchells Plain’s past and present through music, dance, comedy and more is ’n Plekkie in die Son… Mitchells Plain se Mense.

This unique musical theatre performance, directed by Basil Appollis, features well-known brothers Emo and Luqmaan Adams, the Khoisan poet/singer Blaq Pearl, opera singer and SA’s Got Talent winner James Bhemgee and Melanie Jones.

A book about Mitchells Plain will be launched at the premiere.

The Afrikaans play Dit Voel Leeg, based on British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First But it is Alright Now and translated by Hugo Taljaard, deals with the subject of sex trafficking and how an innocent young girl from Rehoboth (played by Isidingo actress Kim Cloete) is tricked into moving to Cape Town and forced into prostitution.

Joining Cloete is 7de Laan actress Vuyelwa Booi, with 7de Laan director Henry Mylne on board as director.

Also to grace the stage are Vinette Ebrahim and Christo Davids in My Naam/Name is Ellen Pakkies and Shimmy Isaacs in the comedy Howzit my Bra, dealing with issues around the bra and the subject of breast cancer.

The community of Beaufort-West takes centre stage with Die Central Karoo Revue, a production about a town in the heart of the Karoo, featuring music, song and dance.

Also new on the Suidoosterfees programme is Baby, based on a short story written by respected writer EKM Dido.

The festival will feature Xhosa drama Uhlazo, winner of the 2011 Baxter Theatre Zabalaza Festival, in the Suidoosterfees 2011 gem Cockroach.

Other festival favourites on the programme include Bullets over Bishop Lavis , written by 7de Laan actor Christo Davids and directed by Jody Abrahams and Bye Ma, Jaypee, starring former 7de Laan actor Chris van Niekerk.

• For more information visit www.suidoosterfees.co.za.

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It could even be a net exporter of both.

But that would depend on three things: that the estimates of shale gas reserves in the Karoo are accurate ; that government gives the go-ahead for exploration to at least find out if there are reserves; and, if the first two requirements are satisfied, that companies are allowed to drill for the gas .

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the Karoo could be home to 485 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of shale gas reserves. That would make SA’s resources the fifth-largest in the world.

Most industry players think this number is probably inflated . Shell SA’s general manager for upstream operations, Jan Willem Eggink, says: “We agree there is probably shale under the Karoo, but we don’t know how much.”

But even if a tenth of the IEA estimate is proven (and economically viable ) it would be a significant find. To put it into perspective, Sasol’s gas-to-liquid plant in Qatar, which produces 32000 barrels of liquid fuel a day, will use 3,5tcf over its 30-year lifetime, according to Investec Securities analyst Campbell Parry.

Parry says with 50tcf, SA would be able to invest in additional gas-to-liquids plants, power generation, and possibly the development of a residential piped gas market in the Western Cape (which currently doesn’t have one).

The cost of electricity would drop as the supply of gas would be greater than demand . Nuclear power would probably be off the table. The days of worrying about load-shedding would be over.

But there’s a chance SA may not even be able to find out whether the reserves are there . The extraction of shale gas through what is known as fracking — injecting water and chemicals into the ground to fracture the rock and release the gas — is a highly contested topic.

The debate is between the economics and the environmental concerns around fracking. A burst of shale exploration and production has changed the US into an energy exporter, given it security of supply and brought gas prices down. US gas prices have more than halved in the past 10 years, says Eggink. But many believe these benefits are not worth the damage done in the process of getting the gas.

Environmental arguments focus on water risks, both of contamination and of availability of water, especially pertinent in a water-scarce country; risks to health; and social disruption from the arrival of the extractive industry.

Energy companies, on the other hand, promise they can extract the gas in an environmentally safe way. Eggink says Shell recently raised operating standards in the US; that the surface footprint of the development is small; and that water issues can be dealt with (through the possible use of brackish water found deep under the Karoo).

He also lists economic spinoffs, including a GDP boost and job creation. On top of this, Shell is risking its own capital, R1,5bn for the first phase , and more if exploration proves fruitful.

There is little way of knowing who is right. It’s easy to find case studies proving either argument . There are cases for regional economic growth, low gas prices and job creation; but there are also cases of ruined water resources.

Saliem Fakir, head of WWF SA’s Living Planet Unit , says the debate “has largely become parochialised as an energy vs environment issue” and suggests the focus should turn to a broader economic debate.

He says the argument should be about energy planning and whether fracking for gas would be the most economically viable energy option for SA.

The range of unknowns includes how much gas there is, the cost of extraction, the cost of getting it to market and where water would be sourced, says Paul Eardley-Taylor, Standard Bank’s head of energy, utilities infrastructure. The cost of infrastructure (which Eardley-Taylor says would be for government) is another major question mark.

“The economics of shale in SA cannot be compared to the US,” Fakir says. A large local resource works for an economy when the right policies are in place. SA lacks a policy for the exploitation of shale gas.

The effect of shale on the SA economy, says Fakir, depends on factors like gas prices (which he says would be higher in SA than in the US), incentives given to industry and environmental regulation.

Sasol, after a technical study in the Karoo, said at the end of 2010 it would not pursue exploration. It says while fracking is widely practised and regulated in the US it is new to SA, and a clear and well-regulated environment would have to be a precondition for an environmentally responsible industry. Others have postulated that Sasol’s decision is based on cost calculations, and that shale gas production in the US would be more economically viable than in SA.

It is in this context that the moratorium on exploration in SA is largely viewed as welcome.

Parry says many of the questions around the economics of shale can be answered only once the actual reserves are known.

Government will decide on the moratorium in March, after it has completed its study into fracking in SA.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Peninsula Energy’s (ASX:PEN) executive chairman Gus Simpson tells Proactive Investors what is in store for the company in 2012. 

He also provides an insight into the uranium market, post Fukushima.

The company could be in production late 2012, early 2013.

 

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2012-02-06 10:40

Leighton Koopman, Die Burger

Cape Town – Another boiling hot day has been forecast for large parts of the Western Cape on Monday.

Temperatures of above 40ºC are expected in the Boland, West Coast and Little Karoo. Residents of the Cape Town metropole can expect a maximum temperature of at least 34ºC.

The South African Weather Service on Sunday issued a heatwave warning, forecasting that these conditions will last until Tuesday.

According to weather forecaster Henning Grobler, there is a slight chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon.

“If it does rain, it will not be a lot. It will, however, be overcast,â€? he said.

Temperatures of about 20ºC are forecast for the whole province on Wednesday.

Western Cape residents sweltered on Sunday. The mercury in the Mother City rose to 37ºC, while people in the Boland towns of Worcester, Paarl, Wellington and Ceres had to endure temperatures of over 40ºC.

On the West Coast there was also no sign of cooler weather. Residents of Clanwilliam, Redelinghuys and Vredendal were sweating it out on Sunday. Temperatures here will be as high on Monday.

Those on the south coast at George and Mossel Bay can expect temperatures of 32ºC and 34ºC.

– Are you feeling the heat? How are you coping? Send us your stories and photos.

www.ska.ac.za

The KAT-7 precursor dished in the Karoo offer a glimpse of what a small portion of the site will look like if the SKA telescope bid is won by SA. If South Africa wins SKA, hundreds of dishes will be arranged in this location by 2024.

Staff Writer

THE SKA, the world’s largest radio telescope, will be able to answer probing questions that have plagued scientists for centuries, and SA is in a tight battle with Australia to become the site for the telescope.

Today, a technical evaluation of both sites is to be released to the SKA Siting Group, which reports to the SKA Founding Board. The Siting Group will weigh the process of the technical evaluation, making sure protocol was followed, and submit its assessment to the founding board.

Bernie Fanaroff, project director for SA’s SKA bid, and the SA SKA team will receive the report on February 15 at the earliest.

Regardless of where the site is located, its work will be revolutionary.

For scientists, the nature of dark energy will be among the main questions that SKA might be able to answer.

“One of the possible Nobel Prizes awarded from this telescope would be for discovering the nature of dark energy,” said Fanaroff. Other potential breakthroughs include the existence of extraterrestrial life and a challenge to Einstein’s theory of gravity.

This mega-telescope is a hot commodity, with South Africa and Australia fiercely assured of the legitimacy of their bids. The criteria that could determine the decision include:

l Radio Frequency Interference Levels: The site needs to be free from radio interference. A big draw for Australia is the remoteness of the site in the western Outback. The region, Murchison, has a large area of about 50 000km2 and a population of fewer than 150 people.

South Africa’s site in the Karoo is closer to human activity but backed by legislation that bars radio activity from the area.

According to a SKA South Africa fact sheet, Justin Jonas, associate director of Science and Engineering for SKA SA said: “A radio quiet environment does not necessarily imply a very remote location that is expensive to provide infrastructure to, and difficult to access and operate.”

l Physical Characteristics and Climate: South Africa’s physical site is located at an altitude of 1 000m, which Fanaroff said is ideal for observing the universe at high frequencies. “There is more water vapour closer to sea level, which makes viewing more difficult,” he said.

“Our site is also dry, with little cloud cover.”

While Australia has a stable climate, their team has repeatedly cited their larger baseline as an advantageous physical characteristic. The baseline is defined as the geographic distance across which a telescope’s connected antennae are distributed.

With New Zealand on board, Australia can situate antenna stations 5 500km away from its core site, a feature that may enable sharper images of the universe, according to an online article in the science magazine Cosmos. Sergei Gulyaev, astronomer at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, said: “For South Africa to reach the minimum SKA baseline requirements, they will have to go all the way to the Congo and many other countries have to be involved. Here you have just one country, plus New Zealand, ideally placed.”

l Cost and Infrastructure:

Simon Ratcliffe, a leading astronomer working on the SA SKA bid, told Cosmos: “Our proximity to Europe and similar time zones, coupled with value-for-money labour and good existing infrastructure, can greatly reduce the major costs of the SKA.”

The SA site is closer to existing roads and infrastructure than the isolated Australian site.

The Karoo site has connections to the national electricity grid, optical fibre backbone and road network.

“Our site has struck an ideal compromise between remoteness and proximity to infrastructure to keep costs low,” said Fanaroff.

The technical report may produce a coherent statement on which site comes out on top.

Afrikaans festivals have become the lifeblood of Afrikaans theatre. If you don’t catch productions there, you’re not going to have much joy, especially in Gauteng. The Cape seems to fare better on this score and hopefully more of the better productions will start travelling across the country and changing these dynamics.

This year’s Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK, from March 31 to April 7 in Oudtshoorn) has a particularly strong theatrical component, starting with Nicola Hanekom completing her trilogy, (which began with Bethesda and Lot) with Babbel.

She has gathered a band of brothers, including musician/composer Braam du Toit and a cast starring Tinarie van Wyk, Brendon Daniels, Stian Bam, Neels van Jaarsveld and more, who have all worked with the exciting director before (see the story alongside).

Those who like strong and challenging theatre will rate their dramatic festival fare by the number of Marthinus Basson productions. This year he returns with the errant Malan Steyn, a playwright who absconded for a few years and is back with Bos, which tells the story of 10 teenagers under the guidance of a paramilitary instructor at a survival camp. How do they cope with peer pressure and pests, ghosts and hormones, and everything that could go wrong? Bam is the leader of the pack and with Basson blasting through this type of scenario, it should be explosive.

Die Vrou Vantevore is one of Basson’s translations of a sharply selected international play. In this instance he picked the German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig, who explains that the play was written when thinking fearfully about what would happen if someone from your past turned up and recalled some unfortunate tale. A young woman knocks on a door and reminds the man of a promise of fidelity he made 24 years earlier.

This is vintage Basson territory with a cast boasting Brümilda van Rensburg, Stian Bam (obviously a Basson favourite), Erica Wessels, Wilhelm van der Walt and Greta Pietersen.

On a gentler note, Rachelle Greef, who wrote the solo-driven Die Naaimasjien starring Sandra Prinsloo, follows with Buitepos, directed by Fred Abrahams. She shifts the focus from an ageing woman to that of a man walking through a dry riverbed, with only his thoughts and the stones around him as company.

Playwright Chris Voster (of 7de Laan fame) also has a few fingers in KKNK pies. For the second year in a row, he assists comedian Marion Holm with her new show titled Holmakiesie. It is turning into what could grow into a great partnership.

Vorster also stages Buurtwag, which premiered at Aardklop, and while the name (Neighbourhood Watch) doesn’t point to hilarity, that’s what ensues. It’s light festival fare.

Playwright Charles J Fourie is another one who has found his way back to Afrikaans festivals with last year’s successful Agterplaas.

Based loosely on Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant, he offers Die Soet Trane van Petrus Pansegrouw, a tongue-in-cheek comedy about the middle-aged Petrus, who is puzzled by the whole ageing-and-affairs thing – until he finds himself involved with an attractive young actress.

It’s fantastic to welcome Janice Honeyman back with some serious theatre. She’s directing a translated Sam Shepard play (the Pulitzer prize-winning Buried Child), Doodsnikke, starring Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Gys de Villiers, Oscar Petersen, Travis Snyders and Ivan Abrahams. It’s balanced on a knife edge between humour and horror and deals with family dysfunction.

On a lighter note, Hennie van Greunen has picked well with his latest translation, that of Educating Rita, cunningly titled Griet kry Geleerdheid, starring Lulu Botha and Chris van Niekerk, who aim to bring this warm and witty story to life. Like his Shirley Valentine transformation, this should be another one that grabs both heads and hearts.

There’s a return of Lizz Meiring and André Stoltz in Kopstukke but it’s almost a decade after they first performed this macabre Jean Goosen piece, which has you giggling at the horror of a couple who are confined to their beds because of a car accident.

The Pink Couch, who won many hearts last year with the wondrous Miskien, return with a physical theatre approach to Herman Charles Bosman’s Mafeking Road, directed by Tara Louise Notcutt, who has a remarkable ability to pick them and to create theatre that both informs and entertains. She and her team are a great acquisition for local festivals.

Playwright Saartjie Botha pays tribute to Afrikaans storyteller Abraham H de Vries with Smelt, directed by the promising Wolfie Britz, starring Gerben Kamper, and producer/ director Albert Maritz brings the much-lauded Mooi Maria, with award-winning performances from Anthea Thompson and Isadora Verwey, as well as PG du Plessis’s comedy classic ’n Seder Val in Waterkloof with another star cast.

Other winning productions that have played at Aardklop, for example, include Jaco Bouwer’s Rooiland. This searing piece about prison gangs, written by Tertius Kapp, showcases brilliant performances by Brendon Daniels, Charlton George, Leon Kruger and Wilhelm van der Walt.

There’s also a reworking of Op-en-top, which previously played in Grahamstown, directed by Andrew Buckland and created and performed by Richard Antrobus and Tristan Jacobs in typical Buckland style.

Lizz Meiring features with pianist Rocco de Villiers in Speel, taking a step back in time as Hermoine who works in a sanatorium in London, with World War I fresh in everyone’s minds. Ou Blare, starring Elsabé Daneel, Susanne Beyers (Erfdeel) and Joannie Combrink, is about friends reuniting with a great deal of laughter but also their share sadness and anger.

This year’s festival artists are the magnificent Handspring Puppet Company, who have captured world headlines with War Horse. This, and some of their other spectacular work, will be on a show and, like everything on this year’s stages, grab the imagination.

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Megan Power

Motorist who escaped a fiery death expected Nissan to
investigate

When it comes to cars, many of us fit the stereotype. We’re largely
interested in how the car looks on the outside and how comfortable it is on the
inside.

But we care little for what’s under the hood. Until things go wrong. Then
consumers become very interested in detail.

Reader Wessel Oosthuizen, who admits to knowing nothing about cars,
certainly did.

It’s little wonder. The retired sports photographer narrowly escaped death
in December when his 2008 1.6 Nissan Qashqai lost power and caught alight while
driving in the Karoo. Within minutes the car was ablaze and less than 15
minutes later it was completely gutted.

Why did the car go up in smoke? Nobody knows. And nobody, besides the owner,
seems to care much either.

Despite Oosthuizen’s efforts, he has no idea why his car, which had recently
had its three-year/100000km warranty service at Nissan, is now a hunk of
charred metal.

His insurer, which didn’t hesitate to cover his loss, blamed an electrical
short circuit but could not determine what triggered it. Because the car was so
badly burnt and no foul play was suspected, it didn’t probe further.

To Oosthuizen’s dismay, neither did Nissan.

“I didn’t ask Nissan for money; I just thought it should look into
it,” the 68-year-old Parys resident said. “But it wasn’t interested.
I called customer care but got no response.

“I then went to Nissan in person and was eventually told it would not
get involved but I could appoint an independent assessor. It said insurance
wouldn’t have paid out if there had been a product fault,” he said.

Oosthuizen asked for this response in writing but didn’t hear from Nissan
again.

When I approached Nissan, senior manager for customer care Jacques Labotsky
said the company’s position had been incorrectly relayed to Oosthuizen. I
didn’t find his clarified version much better.

Labotsky said Nissan would “gladly” conduct an investigation and
appoint an independent fire investigator at a cost of R50000 but – and here’s
the rub – if no product liability was found, Oosthuizen would have to foot the
bill.

So the customer, whose car burst into flames for no reason, should shoulder
the financial burden if no defect is found. Why? “Because the car was
fitted with a tracking device,” said Labotsky. “If the car was standard,
we’d pay.”

According to Labotsky, cars fitted with after-market devices and accessories
such as trackers, alarm systems, radios and tow bars have contributed to fires.

That’s news to me. And to Netstar and Tracker, which with 2.5 million
installations between them, know of no such incidents. Even Oosthuizen’s
insurer Santam has no knowledge of this.

And what about the Nissan service just six weeks earlier? Could there be a
connection? No, said Labotsky, and there was no history of “thermal
incidents” either.

Where an insurance probe determined possible product liability, he said, the
case was referred to the manufacturer for further investigation.

“Unfortunately the insurer opted not to conduct such an investigation
and settled the relevant claim with the client directly … “

Head of Santam corporate affairs Donald Kau said an independent
investigation would not have resulted in a different outcome, based on how
badly the vehicle was burnt.

“As we did not investigate the possibility of a defect being the cause
of the fire, we cannot comment on the liability of the agents towards their
customers,” Kau said.

Would Sanlam cover the costs of a further probe at Oosthuizen’s request?
Unfortunately not, Kau said.

“In this instance, the option is open for the client but it would be
for his own cost. We have paid out in line with the client’s policy after our
own investigation. The car is available for such a probe should the client or
manufacturer wish to assess it further.”

Oosthuizen, who “meticulously” serviced his car with Nissan, is
not amused. “I’m lucky my doors were unlocked because the car’s power died
when the fire started and the smash-and-grab protection on my windows would
have prevented me breaking the glass,” he said.

Indeed, it could have been far worse. Nobody can forget the 2009 death of
satirist Justin Nurse’s two-year-old daughter who died when the family’s Honda
Jazz caught fire in the driveway of their Noordhoek home.

The cause was indeterminable but an investigation showed that water intrusion
into the power window switch housing could cause a short circuit. As a
precautionary measure, Honda recalled all 2002-2008 year model Jazz units in SA
to inspect and modify the switches.

It’s the kind of response consumers expect when things go so terribly wrong.

Although upset at Nissan’s failure to inspect his car, Oosthuizen remains
surprisingly loyal to the brand; he’s already replaced his Qashqai with a
second.

In the interest of consumer safety, I believe Nissan had a duty to rule out
a defect in Oosthuizen’s car, at its own expense. It chose not to.

And Oosthuizen understandably isn’t able to take a R50000 gamble.

So we’re all none the wiser. Heaven help Nissan if another car burns.

Sunday Smile

At Pick n Pay, Carnival Mall, for delivering a R49.99 replacement bottle of
Preen prewash to shopper Sheila Paterson’s door after a faulty cap led to
spillage in her shopping bag. Considering her home is 35km from the store, it
was a most welcome gesture.

Sunday Snarl

At Patrick Holford’s Mood Food which,
according to the Advertising Standards Authority, made an unsubstantiated claim
to the effect that it was able to “support mood and mental vitality”.
Isn’t it time for the marketing and promotion of complementary medicines to be
more strictly regulated?

Weather

WARNINGS: 1. A heat wave with persistently high temperatures is still persisting in the West Coast District, Cape Winelands,and Little Karoo it will persist till Tuesday over the Breede River Valley and Little Karoo.
2. Extremely uncomfortable humid conditions are expected in the West coast district,Cape Winelands, Cape Metropole,in places over the Eden district and the eastern parts of Kwazulu Natal
3. A high veldfire danger rating is expected in places in the West coast district, Cape Winelands, Cape Metropole and the Namakwa district.
4. Extremely hot conditions are expected in places in the West coast district, Cape Winelands, Little Karoo and Breede River Valley.

05 February 2012
| Sapa

WATCHES:

1. A high veldfire danger rating expected in the West Coast district on Tuesday.

2.A high veldfire danger expected over the West Coast district and the Cape Winelands

GAUTENG

Partly cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thundershowers.

Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.

MPUMALANGA

Cloudy in places at first with morning drizzle and fog patches on the high ground,otherwise partly cloudy and warm but cool in places on the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm but cool in places in the eastern highveld and escarpment.Scattered showers and thundershowers are expected but isolated in the Lowveld.

LIMPOPO

Cloudy in places at first with morning drizzle and fog patches on the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the south west.

NORTHWEST

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the east.

FREE STATE

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated thundershowers over the central parts but scattered in the northeast.

NORTHERN CAPE

Fine and hot to very hot but partly cloudy in the east with isolated thundershowers In the north and north east.Morning andN evening fog patches expected along the coast where it will be cool. The wind along the coast will be light northwesterly.

WESTERN CAPE

Fine and hot to very hot, but extremely hot in places over the West Coast District and Cape Winelands.Evening fog expected along the west coast. The wind along the coast will be light to moderate north westerly. Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.

EASTERN CAPE

Sunny and warm north of the escarpment, otherwise partly cloudy with isolated showers and thundershowers in the extreme north east. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh easterly becoming north-easterly towards evening.

KWAZULU-NATAL

Morning fog patches over the interior, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated afternoon and evening showers and thundershowers in the west. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to south easterly.

Expected UVB index: High.

NAMIBIA

Partly cloudy and hot to very hot but warm along the coast with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered in the east. The wind along the coast will moderate south-westerly.

BOTSWANA

Partly cloudy and warm to hot with isolated showers and thundershowers.

LESOTHO

Partly cloudy at times and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

SWAZILAND

Cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.

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Matus is a veteran campaigner, who was going intermediate at the time Lipsky purchased the gelding. However, the eventer started at novice level with Matus.

“It’s taken a while to get to know each other,” said Lipsky.

The Vermont-based rider’s trainer is Surefire Eventing’s Jan Byyny.

“All of the work has really paid off,” said Lipsky. “I was very pleased with his dressage test. He’s quite a fancy little mover. He’s a really fun horse. I couldn’t be more happy (with his cross country) It was a great outing today.”

Lipsky will take her other horse Karoo, a Thoroughbred cross, and go training level at Sporting Days Farm on Saturday. Lipsky and Karoo placed first at training level at the Full Gallop Farm Horse Trials on March 12, 2010. Karoo’s barn name is Peter, and he’s affectionately known as Peter Rabbit.

“He’s coming back from injuries, so this will be his first outing (of the winter) as well,” said Lipsky. “He’ll (Karoo) be going training as well. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring both horses up (the levels) this season. I’ve had that horse (Karoo) for four years, and he was hurt all of last year. It took a long time getting him back. He’s a great horse.”

2012-01-31 18:13

Cape Town – Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu and her director general Thibedi Ramontja will file an answering affidavit  in response to a court application to get details on a fracking report.

“We are serving to the other party’s attorneys, not the media,” department spokesperson Zingaphi Jakuja said.

“As far as I know, media are not applicants in the matter so we are under no obligation to furnish our affidavit to media.”

In January, the High Court in Pretoria ordered Shabangu and Ramontja to respond by January 31 to an application by the Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG).

The TKAG wants details on an inter-departmental task team studying the impact and viability of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, in the Karoo to extract natural gas.

TKAG chair Jonathan Deal said: “There is a whole lot of secrecy… we want to know who is involved, what are their qualifications, what is their brief, what scientific evidence are they using.”

It was especially important to look at what evidence the team was looking at as fracking “had creeped (sic) into South Africa on the back of industry-based reports”.

Fracking involves injecting, under high pressure, a mixture of chemicals and water into the earth, to free natural gas.

The exploration programme, proposed by oil company Shell, has been criticised by environmental groups who claim it will harm the sensitive Karoo environment and poison underground water.