Fracking has been shown to have extremely harmful effects on the ecology, as reported by communities in the USA, where ground water and soils are being seriously polluted. The Karoo is one of the oldest, unspoilt areas on earth and has an extremely fragile ecology. Also water, which is needed in enormous quantities for fracking, is a rare resource which will probably never recover from any unforseen pollution. Shell, a company with a dubious reputation in Africa, is a leader in the move towards opening up this industry in the Karoo, aided and abetted by a number of other oil and energy producers. South Africa has very limited water resources and the loss of good water in the Karroo will be an unmitigated disaster. This development has a very short economic lifespan, is not a great user of labour and with the uncertainty of the potential damage risks, needs to be stopped in it's tracks.
Please listen to the voices of reason of those communities who live in the Karoo, who would be devastated by any unforseen disaster arising from fracking. Also give credence to the published testaments of communities to the adverse affects taking place in the USA and elsewhere, as well as to the informed decisions by those governments who have banned the practice altogether, The risks are too high and unmeasurable and the poisons introduced into the soil totally unacceptable.
