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Major celebrations took place on the 8th of January.(SABC)

The African National Congress (ANC) centenary torch has arrived at Beaufort West in the Karoo where it will be handed over by the party’s Secretary-General, Gwede Mantashe, to the provincial leadership. ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe kick-started the celebrations with a rally at Oudtshoorn in the Karoo.

The torch arrived just after midnight in a motorcade from Mangaung in the Free State where major celebrations took place on the 8th of January. Mantashe is also expected to address party veterans during a breakfast meeting before visiting the homes of struggle veterans in the area.

 

A host of activities have been planned for the next two days.

The main rally in the region to celebrate the party’s 100th birthday takes place this afternoon at the Rustdene Stadium. A host of activities have been planned for the next two days.

Mantashe will visit the homes of struggle veterans in the area. The event will be attended by provincial leadership, church leaders, as well as members of civil society

WITH the month of February approaching the hundredth anniversary celebrations of the ANC’s commemoration year move to the Western Cape Province, after a successful kickoff in Mangaung where the ANC was founded in the Wesleyan Church of Waaihoek.

The official African National Congress Centenary Celebrations in the Western Cape starts this week, when the National Centenary Torch will be handed over to the people of the Western Cape on Wednesday February 1, in Beaufort West.

The ANC National leadership and the National Centenary Task Team, together with the Free State leadership of the ANC will hand over the Centenary Flame to the ANC Western Cape leadership.

The ANC invites the people of the Western Cape and the media to come and join us in our celebrations of 100 years, an achievement that no other political movement on the continent has managed to achieve.

The ANC views its Centenary not only as a celebration for ANC members, but as a celebration for all South Africans and it has also been embraced by freedom loving people all over the world.

Once the Centenary Flame has been handed over to the Western Cape, it will travel to all the corners of the province, from the smallest little hamlets and farms, towns to the big cities.

We try our best to make it possible for each and every citizen of the Western Cape to witness our Centenary Flame of struggle and hope.

Once the torch has been handed over to the ANC Western Cape Province, represented by Marius Fransman (provincial chairperson) it will then be handed over to Mr. Ronnie Klink, ANC Central Karoo Region chairperson.

The Centenary Flame will then change hands from one region to the other, who will each have a turn to present it to a wide range of people and communities in their regions.

The Central Karoo Region will hand the flame over to the South Cape / Klein Karoo Region, who in turn will hand it over to the Parliament for the opening of Parliament’s State of the Nation address.

From parliament, the flam will be passed on to the Boland Region, who in turn will pass it on to the Overberg Region.

The Overberg Region will pass it on to the West Coast Region, who will then pass it on to the Dullah Omar Region, from who will be the last region to host the Flame.

The Western Cape Province will also celebrate the life of the second president of the ANC, president Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.

President Makgatho was the president of the ANC from 1917 – 1924, and placed a big emphasis on education, land and religion in his life, as ANC president and in his personal capacity.

On 23 February as part of our centenary celebrations, the ANC will host a Sefako Mapogo Makgatho Memorial Lecture at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town, to honour the of president Makgatho. President Jacob Zuma will deliver the keynote address and some of the family of president Makgatho will also be in attendance.

President Jacob Zuma will also visit the Rocklands Civic Centre in Mitchells Plain to honour the place where the UDF was launched.

The UDF played an important role in the liberation struggle of South Africa, and the visit by president Zuma is to show our appreciation to that organisation and its millions of members all over South Africa who contributed to bringing about the present democratic dispensation.

On 11 February, former president Nelson Mandela celebrates 22 years of freedom, and this celebration will be commemorated as part of our Centenary Celebrations.

The ANC will be sending a strong delegation to the Drakenstein Prison (formerly Victor Verster) to celebrate this important occasion.

On 24 to 26 February the Commission for Religious and Traditional Affairs will be hosting a summit on Race, Culture and Identity to get a debate going on important issues in South Africa.

Before the handover of the Centenary Flame to Mpumalanga Province, the ANC Western Cape will do its duty and take the flame to Robben Island, a place of incarceration of so many of the freedom fighters of South Africa.

A Candle Light Vigil will be held on Robben Island on 28 February, which will end with a cultural evening and dance for all who will be in attendance.

The next day, 29 February the Centenary Flame will be escorted out of the province to Mpumalanga, where the ANC Western Cape Chairperson, Marius Fransman will hand back the flame to Mr Gwede Mantashe, the secretary general of the national ANC.

Fransman says South Africa is privileged to witness the first centenary of this glorious movement, and therefore, the ANC is doing everything in its power to make it a memorable occasion for all South Africans.

Statement issued by Songezo Mjongile, ANC Western Cape Provincial Secretary, January 31 2012

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YUMMY: Fresh mangoes, plums, nectarines and peaches are just some of the delicious fruits to savour. Pic: Debbie Yazbek

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• Five meatless suppers – recipes

Made in China. We are so used to this label attached to merchandise that it’s good to know that the summer fruit abundant right now is grown in Boland and Little Karoo orchards or in the subtropical Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

However, peaches and nectarines had their origins in China some 2 000 years ago, and found their way to the west, via Persia and the European spice trade. Plums seem to have originated in Japan and Europe while mangoes were first cultivated in India some 4 000 years ago.

While most of these fruits are destined to be eaten raw and whole or sliced into salads, this is the time to make more of them.

Many of the ideas below take little time and do not require large amounts of energy, either from the cook or from Eskom.

FRESH MANGO WITH CHILLI AND VANILLA SYRUP

Exotic, tongue-tingling, this is a great finale for a lunch or supper. Choose firm mangoes ahead of time so they will have ripened when used. If you prefer, make a lemon sorbet in place of the lime sorbet, as limes are very pricey.

The recipe can be found in Marie Claire Spicy, by Michele Cranston, published by Murdoch Books.

220g (1 full cup) white sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 fresh large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

3 mangoes, peeled and flesh cut into thick strips

Lime sorbet

250g white sugar

4 to 5 limes

Put the sugar, vanilla bean and chilli into a small saucepan, with 500ml water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, then stir in the lime juice.

For the sorbet, dissolve the sugar in 1 litre (four cups) of water, bring to the boil and cook two to three minutes, then remove from heat. Cool. Grate the zest of the limes and squeeze the juice. Add the juice to the syrup, along with the zest of one lime. Taste, and add more zest if desired. Cool, then transfer to freezer. When half-frozen, whizz mixture with a hand blender to break up crystals, and freeze until firm.

To serve, divide the mango between four chilled bowls, and top with scoops of lime sorbet. Drizzle the chilli syrup over the mango and sorbet and serve immediately.

Serves four.

RUSTIC PLUM SHEET CAKE

A pleasing recipe that calls only for a bowl and a wooden spoon, authors Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy suggest we bake it to take on picnics, and serve from the pan, along with their homemade crème fraiche.

Find the recipe in their delicious compilation Cakebread, Pudding and Pie published by Struik Lifestyle.

½ cup milk

Quarter cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1½ cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

10 large plums, halved and pitted

Quarter cup castor sugar

Crème Fraiche

1 cup thick cream

2T buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a large 25x35cm rectangular baking pan. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, oil and eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into this. Stir until a batter forms. Spread the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Arrange the plums, cut side up, on top of the batter. Do not press them in. Sprinkle the castor sugar over the plums. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the plums are soft.

For the crème fraiche, sterilise a jam jar. Combine the cream and buttermilk in the jar, screw on the lid and shake for one minute. Set aside but do not refrigerate, for 12 to 24 hours until thick.

Serves six to eight.

BAKED PEACHES WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND CARAMEL SAUCE

It’s a self-explanatory title of a straightforward dessert that will be lapped up by all ages. This is one for cool nights, when the family is ready for a warm finale with its contrast of ice cream on the side.

The recipe comes from Sydney Food by Bill Granger, published by Murdoch Books. You could also use nectarines.

4 peaches, halved and stoned

2T brown sugar

Caramel sauce

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup cream

1tsp lemon juice

Vanilla icecream

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place peaches, cut side up, in a small baking dish and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, until they are soft and juices bubbling. Remove and cool slightly.

For the sauce: fill the sink with cold water. Place the sugar and quarter cup (60ml ) of water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar has melted, brushing down sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water if any crystals appear. Bring to the boil and cook, without stirring, until the caramel turns golden brown, swirling the pan to keep the colour even. Remove from heat as soon as this occurs and plunge base of saucepan into the sink of cold water to stop it cooking. Let the caramel cool slightly, then carefully pour in the cream, it will foam up. When foaming stops, add the lemon juice and stir until sauce is smooth. Sauce can be reheated.

To serve, place peaches in serving dish, top with ice-cream and pour over sauce. Serves four. – Cape Argus

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Letters

The authorities have lobbied every Tom, Dick and Harry to give their opinion about how good it will be for South Africa to allow firms like Shell to poison the delicate fauna and flora of the Karoo.

29 January 2012
| RALPH KRALL by e-mail

The propaganda over the search for gas in the Cape is not to be believed, writes  RALPH KRALL by e-mail.

The authorities have lobbied every Tom, Dick and Harry to give their opinion about how good it will be for South Africa to allow firms like Shell to poison the delicate fauna and flora of the Karoo.

 What is it that people don’t understand?

 Just Google “fracking” and that will be enough to put the fear of God into every South African.
 
You don’t have to be a scientist like Prof Maarten De Wit to understand that this will be the point of no return.
 
I always wonder how much people are being paid to even suggest that fracking for gas is good for the people of the country when it means that the earth will be  poisoned by toxins that will seep into the water table for hundreds of kilometres in all directions.
 
 Companies like Shell say say fracking for gas is  done better these days and more carefully. 

What a load of balony. Poison is poison no matter how carefully they try disguise it  or how much money they dangle in front of ignorant government officials.

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They might employ vastly different mediums and explore equally divergent themes, but artists ­Viviane Sassen and Nandipha Mntambo share a common preoccupation with perception.

With typical curatorial savvy, the Stevenson gallery is showing their new work in concurrent exhibitions, thereby provoking a dynamic conversation about representation and abstraction, narrative and evocation. Sassen’s new exhibition brings together photographs from two recent series, Parasomnia and Flamboya, taken in West and East Africa as well as in Europe.

These works may employ a documentary approach, but Sassen’s emotive visual language engages the formalist concerns of painting, sculpture and photography. Mntambo’s new exhibition, The Unspoken, shares Sassen’s interest in abstraction, but she uses visceral media such as cowhide and oil paint to construct visual abstractions that function in an almost documentary sense.

Stevenson, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock. Tel: 021 462 1500. Until February 25. Website: ­stevenson.info.

? The arid Karoo haunted the British colonial imagination. Poet Thomas Hardy described its “dusty loam” lit by “strange stars amid the gloam”, whereas Rudyard Kipling’s Bridge-guard in the Karoo notes its “ramparts of slaughter and peril/ Blazing, amazing, aglow”.

British conceptual and land artist Richard Long engages but ultimately upsets these exotic, outsider perceptions in Karoo Highveld.

Comprising works made during the artist’s two visits to South Africa, it highlights his conception of land art as rooted in the act of walking. Shunning object-based practice, he produces ­fragmented photographic pieces and text and sculptural installations that document the traces his presence leaves in a space.

Iziko South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Cape Town. Until January 31. Tel: 021 467 4660. Website: iziko.org.za.

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Weather

WARNINGS: A high veldfire danger rating is expected over the West Coast District, Cape Metropole, Cape Winelands and southern Namaqua District. Extremely uncomfortable, humid conditions will be experienced over the West Coast District and Cape Winelands. Extremely hot conditions are expected over the West Coast District until Sunday.
A heat wave with persistently high temperatures is expected in the West Coast District and Cape Winelands until Sunday.

27 January 2012
| Sapa

WATCHES:
Extremely uncomfortable, humid conditions will be experienced over The Cape Winelands, West Coast District and Karoo areas on Sunday.

GAUTENG

Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.
Expected UVB Index: Dangerous.
 
MPUMALANGA

Hot in places in the lowveld, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers on the highveld and escarpment.
 
LIMPOPO

Hot in places in the lowveld and western bushveld, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the southwest.
 
NORTHWEST

Partly cloudy and hot with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.
 
FREE STATE

Partly cloudy and hot with isolated showers and thundershowers in the east.
 
NORTHERN CAPE

Fine and hot, but very hot in Gordonia. It will be cloudy along the coast at first, otherwise partly cloudy and warm.

The wind along the coast will be moderate southerly.
 
WESTERN CAPE

Fine and warm to hot, but extremely hot in the west. It will be partly cloudy along the south coast at first.

The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong south-easterly.
Expected UVB Index: Very Dangerous.
 
EASTERN CAPE

Partly cloudy and warm.

The wind along the coast will be light to moderate easterly to north-easterly.
 
KWAZULU-NATAL

Morning fog 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 southerly to south-easterly.
Expected UVB index: High.
 
NAMIBIA
Partly cloudy with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in the northeast, otherwise fine and warm to hot, but very hot in the south.

The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh southerly to outh-westerly.
 
BOTSWANA

Partly cloudy and warm, but hot to very hot in the southwest.
 
LESOTHO

Partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers.
 
SWAZILAND

Morning fog patches, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers in the west.

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Every Friday morning, SAfm’s AMLive’s radio anchor Xolani Gwala speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript:

Gwala: South Africa is set to benefit from its strong position in vanadium, which is being developed to store electricity. Tell us about that.

Creamer: South Africa at one stage was the biggest miners of vanadium. We do that out at Highveld Steel and Vanadium. The good news now coming out of China is that China wants to develop vanadium flow batteries. It wants to do that to store electricity.

Now, we notoriously waste electricity, we don’t do much storing of electricity that is why at night we have been trying to have the Drakensberg Water Scheme so that when no one is using electricity, we use it to pump the water up the mountain and then when the demand comes, we let it go down the mountain and generate the electricity. So, batteries have been looked at for a long time, but those hydro-schemes are few and far between and they are expensive.

At the moment, I think our storage in the world is about 1 000 MW or something like that. China is looking and this is a phenomenal number. Initially China gave the impression that they would look to store renewable energy, in other words, when the wind didn’t blow, they’d have energy, because they would have stored it while the wind was blowing.

When the sun was shining, they would have stored it so that they can have it when its not shining. People were working on a storage type of business that would have been related to renewal, but the Chinese have shaken their heads with this new test facility they just put in in December.

They are testing three types of storage facilities and saying that they are looking at storing 10% of all the electricity that China generates. The total picture which people are now saying if this happens in the next seven years as the Chinese are planning it gives birth to a trillion dollar plus industry.

People are having to move fast now to try and see how they can add to this. We know that the Americas are also looking at a lot of storage of electricity. Even last year this time Barrack Obama, when he was introduced to this vanadium flow battery, said that it is one of the coolest things his every looked at.

So, everybody is starting to consider the storage of energy and South Africa is very well placed. We have already got the platinum as we have been discussing here that can work on fuel-cells. This is also a type of fuel-cell, vanadium also a type of catalyst.

Perhaps this park that the government wants to establish, they are looking at some sort of Silicon Valley of platinum. Perhaps they could include other metals and minerals like vanadium, because after all Silicon Valley doesn’t really apply to silicon, it’s all high-tech stuff.

Gwala: Staying with matters surrounding energy, the US government is now offering South Africa’s free insights into the money-making shale-gas business.

Creamer: This is the second part of the dialogue with the US. It began in Washington last year, when the energy bodies of South Africa and US had a dialogue and now its continued this month in South Africa. The Americans are saying are saying that they have gone through the whole know-how process of shale-gas, they are a developed economy and they know the sort of environmental safeguards that are needed, the health standard etc.

We have got shale gas in the Karoo and they understand that the environmentalists are upset and they are stopping the process at the moment. The US Department of Energy, they have got a whole lot of know-how and recommendations how to overcome these environmental issues and they are prepared to share those with us.

This is something that South Africa should take up, because a developed world country like America has gone from zero to hero in shale gas in 12 years. At the turn of the century there was hardly any shale gas, because there wasn’t the technology to do it.

With the technological breakthrough, the fracking, of course, America has now 30% of its natural gas coming from shale gas. We can see a tremendous potential. We are sitting in the Karoo here they are talking about one of the biggest deposits of shale gas possibly 485-trillion cubic feet.

That has to be firmed up. Now we have got this helping hand saying let us give you a start on this, because we have gone through the process already and we know how valuable this. It is a miracle story, could make a lot of money for South Africa, and, of course, we also have to satisfy the environmental imperatives and hopefully with the help of the Department of Energy of the United States we can do so painlessly.

Gwala: Now, for a bit of a sad story really, after less then two years, South Africa’s one and only orbiting satellite has been declared dead and the space mission is now being wound up.

Creamer: It was a short-lived SumbandilaSat. It was smacked by a burst of solar radiation in mid-year last year. Of course, they have been trying to make contact with it, but fruitlessly. Now they have decided that they must just give up on that space mission.

So that space mission is being wound up. People are starting to ask how much did it cost? Initially we were told that the satellite was very cheap, R11-million.

It came out of the private sector. We have had SunSat, which was a private sector satellite that went up in the 90s and that was developed by Stellenbosch University. When it came to this new SunSat business being set-up they also developed and designed this satellite very cheaply.

Initially the figure of R11-million was raised then R26-million, but they have now calculated everything and they are saying that it cost about R100-million. When they look to the next satellite, which they will launch in a few years time, the budget is going to be much higher. They are now talking about R400-million for the next one. So, we can see a big step up on this. They claim that they had 1 000 or so images from the previous one that where usable.

They gave the images of the floods in Namibia and the tsunami in Japan. There was this earth observation imaging that we benefitted from. It is not all a loss situation, but still the transparency around how much these things cost will need to be far greater in future.

Gwala: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer is publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly, he’ll be back with us at the same time next week.

Babbel, which deals with the aftermath of revolution, is on the Absa KKNK bill.

Arts writer

PUNTERS at this year’s Absa KKNK (Klein Karoo National Arts Festival) can expect quality productions in a variety of genres from March 31 to April 7 in Oudtshoorn in the Klein-Karoo. Although the Absa KKNK remains the première SA festival for theatre and music in Afrikaans, the 2012 event aims to offer as much theatre, music, dance and visual arts as possible to a wider audience.

“The Absa KKNK boasts major flagship productions and more than 40 debut productions. The brand new venue, Deurbraak, will also be a highlight, where festival-goers can expect fresh, upcoming voices.

“Nicola Hanekom’s award-winning trilogy of open air productions culminates with Babbel, which deals with the aftermath of a revolution, another must-see production this year,” says the programme manager, Theo Kemp.

Music lovers can make plans to get to the annual Kaktus op die Vlaktes open-air rock festival. Other musical highlights will include opera by Janelle Visagie, Stefan Louw, Liesl Stoltz and others, as well as a programme filled with artists performing on the Huisgenoot Musiekplaas platform.

Visual arts offerings will include Living Things: Handspring Puppets Now, which includes the magical War Horse by the Handspring Puppet Company, as well as a retrospective exhibition by the late painter, Kevin Atkinson.

Brett Pyper, CEO of the Absa KKNK, says that this year the festival promises to build on the success of the greater part of the past two decades.

“The festival in Oudtshoorn presents, as always, a range of arts, entertainment and festivities in abundance. In a year where there was more than enough drama on the world economic stage, the festival management has worked with various partners to ensure that the festival remains affordable.

“For example, the ticket prices of the popular Rivierbuurt stay the same as last year, with the age for free entry raised from 12 years to age to 15.

“As part of the free festival offering, the popular and colourful Klein Karoo Festival parade, as well as various other projects from the Festival of Opportunities, will guarantee further entertainment,” says Pyper.

l Tickets will be available at Computicket at 0861 915 8000, or Shoprite/Checkers from Friday. See programme information at www.absakknk.co.za where accommodation bookings can also be made.

Hydraulic fracturing via Shutterstock

Karoo, South Africa: The Earth is a colossal bio-geo-heritage entity worth protecting beyond measure. The Earth formed 4.6 billion (4 600 million) years ago, forming the inner layers of the planet, over slow-measured geological time, the upper layers, the atmosphere and water vapour formed making life on Earth possible. The Karoo, a semi-desert biome, is a site of ancient geological processes, from the layers of natural ground profile from the surface to deep within the earth’s crust, to the underground water supply.

One would be none the wiser about the pristine liquid flowing beneath one’s feet as one stands on this desert terrain. But indeed there is a supply of freshwater, the only drinking water source, in this arid landscape where hardy beautiful flora survive in co-habitation with the passionate rural-dwellers. The landscape is sparsely populated with farms, small-holdings and towns steeped in rich cultural and political history; it’s a place once escapes to when the superficiality of the urban centres rankles your spirit. So, when the most distressing news was wired across the landscape that one of the biggest oil companies in the country was looking at cracking open the Karoo and extracting its gas resources and decimating its natural and socially-dependent life-giving resources, soil and water, all hell-broke loose and the quiet, tranquillity was transformed into a location of social-environmental mobilisation. The communities in the Karoo were adamant that they would not be steam-rolled by a unilateral heavy industry in economic collaboration with the state.

Sasol, the main contender, in a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell, multinationals Statoil and Chesapeake Energy, Falcon Oil Gas, and Bundu Oil Gas; applied to the South African Department of Mineral and Energy for exploration permits. The state issued a moratorium last year on fracking due to the rising contention, and has yet to rule on its final decision. While the state deliberates, civil society has been lobbying and advocating international, generating massive support, and have exerted their ‘Right to Know’ in demanding through court procedures for full disclosure of all documentation on the project’s. In the meanwhile the moratorium deadline ends this February. Sasol did withdraw from further exploration early December 2011, a brief respite for the Karoo residents, but uncertainty looms.

Deep within the earth archaic processes led to rock formations trapped with gas and oil. The Karoo, is underlain by the Karoo Supergroup, representing many different rock types formed under different accumulation conditions, with the oldest forming the base layers. Shale is one of these rock layers. Shale a distinguishable rock, smooth, fine grey, red, brown, black, it breaks easily due to the layered profile. Black shales have a high organic content, acted upon by high temperatures within the Earth creates conditions for the production of shale gas and shale oil. What happens is that gases no matter where they are above or below ground will rise due to lower density; however underground free movement is restricted and the gases are trapped between rock layers. The oil giants profiteering off natural resources, using polluting technologies to acquire wealth, are running out of conventional oil reserves and have found a panacea for new wealth, its shale gas. This way they continue with fossil-fuel energy unabated, with no regard to their existing environmental destruction, that is more a thorn in their side. They have no intention of redeeming themselves and becoming climate protection proponents moving to a green economy.

So the oil merchants want to embark on a deeply intrusive process, of drilling straight down into the earth’s layers up to 6000m and then making a sharp left or right angle turn to access the horizontal layers wherein the gas lies trapped in the shale profiles. So besides the intrusive drills that alter the tectonic stability, immense quantities of water are required for the concoction of chemicals (toxicological impacts to the ecosystem and humans), the water is used at high pressure to break-down the rock, fracturing it for gas extraction. This is hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. In water scarce region like the Karoo, this seems absurd.

Biophysical Impacts of Fracking

The biodiversity of the Karoo on the surface and below will forever be altered, from surface and groundwater contamination, to geological instability and potential seismic activity caused by fracking into unstable zones or fault lines, floral and fauna habitat destruction. A consideration of high impact but never considered in macro impact assessments, the microlife decimation, the deep layers of the earth are home to some of our most archaic species that are older than humankind surviving in extreme environmental under extreme temperature and conditions. The list of impacts is endless yet specific.

Social Impacts of Fracking

The most critical social impact in a water-stressed, groundwater dependent semi-desert region is water. The livelihood and survival of the Karoo dwellers is intrinsically tied to their water supply from the aquifers. The industrialists never saw for fit to invade the Karoo landscape as it’s been associated with barren resources, but their desperation to colonise new unconventional fossil-fuels is driving them beyond the traditional economic hubs. While the Karoo reeks of the inequities of apartheid with extreme poverty in black communities and more affluent white communities, the latter the farm owners who serve to lose land space due to the legality of mineral rights and land rights being held two divergent allotments. If one owns the land surface one does not necessarily own the mining rights. The reality of racial poverty dynamics is being preyed upon by big business that is well aware that its 17 years gone and the black communities are in dire straits, jobless, foodless and homeless. This target is age-old and has forever been used by industrialists in creating greater divides from the red (workers and labour unions) and green (environmentalists) to the desperate poverty divide versus white conservation concerns. While those imbalances need to be rectified, promoting an increase in the carbon economy is not the way to go. Promoting further environmental ruin and profits before health and environment, will not benefit the long-term sustainable of the poorest of the poor, but will line the pockets of the polluters.

If the arguments on the technicality and potential impacts of the process and trust in these industrialists and their spin doctors don’t shake your indecision on this debate, then surely the track record of heavy industry and petrochemical complex should, all of whom have revealed unforgivable human health and biophysical lethal contamination to communities, workers and nature.

We need to unequivocally promote and fight for cleaner technologies that promote skills development, job creation and poverty alleviation and ensure that the very blue liquid that gives us life, is regarded as a national conservation heritage.

Any views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author

Sustainable development and the prospects of fracking for shale gas in the Karoo: can we have it both ways?

Since the turn of the 20^th century we have seen how human endeavour to achieve economic growth has caused irreparable damage to the environment. The environment crises have led to irreparable damage to the environment and the suffering of billions of people in the least developed countries. Amongst the environmental crises, the depletion of the ozone layer, climate change and climate variability have caused economic loss and social despair on an unprecedented scale.  The consequences of economic march of progress have resulted in environmental anomalies such as cyclones, droughts, desertification, flooding; and the poorest people of sub-Saharan Africa have been the hardest hit.

The environmental crisis compelled the need to “reconcile� the concepts of development and the environment. Development is about meeting the material needs (jobs, income, shelter, food, education, health etc.) of our people. While environmental protection is our moral obligation to future generation and other species with which we share the Earth’s environment. This is particularly true of sub-Saharan Africa which is touted as the cradle of mankind and nature. Sustainable development seems to be the reconciler of competing interests and views.

What promise does sustainable development hold for the inhabitants of the Karoo and South Africa in general?

Perhaps let me start by drawing your attention to the normative and operational definitions of sustainable development.

 â€œSustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needsâ€?

·          â€œthe concept of ‘needs’, in particular, puts an emphasis on the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

·         the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needsâ€?

The operations definition of sustainable development makes it unequivocally clear that, in essence, sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.�

Operational principles of sustainable development include: 1) reviving growth; 2) changing the quality of growth;3) meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation; ensuring a sustainable level of population; 4) conserving and enhancing the resource base; 5) re-orientating technology and managing risk; 6) and merging environment and economics in decision-making; 7) and re-orientating international economic relations.

The core principles of sustainable development are 1) normative principle, 2) equity, 3) integration and 4) dynamism principle.

A step towards the answer to the challenge in the Karoo dwells within the definitions and principles of sustainable development. Before going further, it is worthy to mention that post-apartheid South Africa is party to the global agreements on sustainable development and climate change. This is evident from the hosting, in 2002, of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and the recent UNFCCC COP17/CMP7 in Durban. So, the world is watching our decisions with keen interest.

Under each principle of sustainable development we can ask or answer some of the questions about the value of the environment (Karoo) and development (jobs, schools, food, water etc.). I do not present these concepts as polar opposite or “alternativesâ€?; rather, I present them so we can find a “common groundâ€?. 

Under the normative principle, we have to ask ourselves about the aesthetic, heritage and cultural value of the Karoo, and what that means to the landscape of South Africa and its inhabitants. Our values are abstract ideals which evoke emotional reactions and are typically expressed in terms of good or bad, better or worse, desirability or avoidance. They define or direct our goals, frame our attitudes and views, and provide standards which human behaviour can be judged.

Within the equity principle, we have to remember that sustainable development is about development, and that we have to deploy technology to the full exploitation of the natural resources to develop our present people without compromising the people of the future. We also have to consider the species of the Karoo as part of a complex social-ecological system that might not be understood immediately especially when there is a rush to cash-in on the spoils of exploration. Systems thinking (holism) is important in the decision making processes of the key role players. Do the inhabitants of the Karoo have a voice? Perhaps, they do, through Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG), but their power of influence is also limited by technical knowledge on fracking and other resources.

Perhaps it is this principle of dynamism that captures the fear of concerned South African about the uncertainty of the technology to be deployed. The dynamism principle is shaped by the interaction between society and the environment which is in constant state of change and dynamism. Dynamism brings about uncertainties and (potential) risks due to unpredictable evolutions and unanticipated effects, underlying the need for precaution. Precaution requires respecting uncertainty, avoiding even poorly understood risks of serious or irreversible damage to the foundations for sustainability of the environment. Therefore designing for surprise and managing risk is important. Allow me to draw your attention to this example:

The Medupi power station in Lephalale in the Limpopo Province, once completed, will meet 10% of the country’s electricity demand increasing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouses, thus aggravating climate change. 

We, South Africans, allowed it to continue because of the value it will add to our economy. But it is also poses a dilemma for environmentalist who rather we opted for alternative sources of energy.   

Lastly, development (meeting needs for jobs, food, water etc.) is the primary objective of sustainable development and environmental protection is a secondary objective. Finding the balance between development and the environment is a delicate process and requires extensive consultation with experts, locals and concerned groups about the viability of the proposed project. Impact assessment on the environment and the economy are equally important, and none outweighs the other.

Personally, I applaud the minister for taking time to consult on this tricky but promising issue. Promising in the sense that no matter how it ends, it would have added value to our society either through better consideration for our environment or energy self-sufficiency (in an energy insecure world) or both. I would prefer sustainable development, which realises both goals (environmental protection and energy self-sufficiency) in South Africa.

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