Jonathan Deal says: Does President Zuma have a fracking clue? For almost three years President Zuma remained silent on the issue of fracking. Whether from a strategic position or simply because of the technical nature of the debate is not immediately apparent. What do speak volumes though, are two recent instances in which he has made public statements clearly tailored for the audience. Public statements which contrast so remarkably that one has to draw the conclusion that our leader is de facto clueless on the issue of fracking. Opening the Spring Grove Dam in Rosetta, near Mooi River in KwaZulu-Natal, on November 19, Zuma, who was focused on water for the occasion, said South Africans should remember that the country was one of the driest on earth. Not a drop must be wasted, not a drop must be polluted, …” Concluding that water was both a basic necessity, and a basic human right he said, Water is life. Let us conserve it, respect it and enjoy it. My first thought was how Shell and the pro-fracking Ministers in President Zuma’s cabinet would be enjoying that address. Low and behold on Friday, November 29, in a speech prepared for delivery at the launch of the Kalagadi Manganese companys Stanley Nkosi sinter mine, Zuma finally weighed in on fracking. Referring to the ‘discovery of shale gas in the Karoo’, he said that shale gas ‘creates possibilities for growth and economic development in the Northern Cape.’ Mr. Zuma’s speechwriter was clearly not about to let the President’s first uttering on shale gas pass by unnoticed: “We are extremely excited about the prospect, because as government we consider hydraulic fracturing for shale gas a game-change opportunity for the Karoo region and for our economy at large,” “We must explore this potential,” Zuma said. But the President’s scribe may have gone too far, for in the next breath the President said the government was aware of concerns raised about hydraulic fracturing, including the issues of its affect on the provinces water and environment. The coup de grace was his statement which not only committed Minister Shabangu to a visit to Hotazhel, (she had, by October 31, not visited a single mine in 2013), but also his personal assurance that the Minister would be consulting with ‘communities’ to ‘hear what the people have to say, before any further decisions are taken by government on this matter.’ From my spot in the Karoo, I can almost hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the pro-fracking lobby. One wonders how this unusually concise statement by number 1, fits with that of Minister Rob Davies who has promised to push fracking ahead ‘before the end of this administration.’ I would have to conclude that Davies and Zuma don’t communicate or the promise of ‘hearing what the people have to say’ is ANC window dressing. Meanwhile, international resistance to the process and technology of fracking is growing on a daily basis. Now banned or under some form of moratorium or restriction in more than 215 places including outright bans in some countries, the technology faces a growing body of evidence attacking not only the environmental disruption that follows it, but even the very economics of the process. An American report issued by 6 researchers compares official US employment statistics in 6 States of the Marcellus and Utica shale regions, in the northeastern US, against claims by the pro-fracking industry in that country. The results unequivocally point to pro-fracking manipulation of the figures, which amount to little more than plain lying. It is industry crafted misinformation and a slapdash task team investigation by the very Minister whose job it is to exploit mineral resources, that inform the obtuse statements by our government Ministers in South Africa – statements that in the light of international statistics blindly seek to commit this country to a polluting technology that is set to spread right across South Africa.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 11:16:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015