Unconventional gas activities or “Fracking” consultations were held in the Karoo area of the Northern Cape
27 July 2022
The Department of Water and Sanitation interacted with the community members which included the farmers of the Karoo area in the Northern Cape. The community engagement was held in Richmond to inform the community about the Unconventional Gas Regulations. Richmond is in the Karoo area which is water scarce.
The Department of Water and Sanitation was tasked with the responsibility of formulating regulations that will oversee the hydraulic fracturing commonly known as “fracking “, which is an activity of drilling underground to extract gas by the gas industries. These activities were announced in Parliament but were found to have adverse impact on the environment due to the chemicals used during fracking.
As the Department’s sole mandate is to protect, manage, control, and develop water resources, regulations guiding the activities of fracking were developed. The regulations will regulate these activities because they have a possibility of contaminating the water resources, particularly groundwater. The Department formulated these regulations as mandated by the National Water Act.
Richmond is a semi-rural area with farming as its main economic activity. There are several boreholes that were dug by the Municipality as well as by the farmers.