GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The Graaff-Reinet-based Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) recently convened its annual Climate Justice Platform, bringing together 60 climate justice activists and strategic partners to strengthen their existing campaign against fracking in the Karoo.
The anti-fracking campaign was initiated in 2012 after it was made public that Shell had applied for a licence to explore for shale gas in the water-stressed Karoo region.
The SCLC facilitated the establishment of the Karoo Anti-Fracking Task Team, aimed at raising awareness and challenging the narrative promoted by the extractive industry by exposing the risks of irreversible environmental damage, water contamination and disruption of traditional livelihoods hidden behind promises of economic gain.
The initiative empowered residents to make informed decisions and assert their right to say no to extractive industries operating without accountability.
The Karoo Anti-Fracking Task Team was subsequently replaced by the Karoo Environmental Justice Movement (KEJM) when it came to light that, in addition to the pending application for shale gas exploration, the Karoo was also faced with the looming threat of uranium mining.
The SCLC and KEJM continued to raise awareness and mobilise support for the resistance against uranium mining and fracking, and in 2018 they officially launched the #BanFracking campaign, marking a significant milestone for the anti-fracking movement.
The #BanFracking campaign called for a total ban on fracking in South Africa and has now gained intensified urgency due to the renewed interest in shale gas exploration and production in the Karoo region.
On the first day of the platform, Linda Arkert, a social research expert of The Green Connection, highlighted the environmental and social impacts of fracking in the Karoo, raising serious concerns about its consequences for local communities.
Centre for Environmental Rights attorney Paul Lado updated participants on existing shale gas exploration licences and new applications, and Nina Braude, a legal expert in environmental justice, interrogated the implications of current regulatory processes.
She also provided an analysis of the South African legal framework, identifying possible legal avenues to resist shale gas development.
On the second day, Siphesihle Mvundla, climate and energy justice campaigner at the KwaZulu-Natal-based environmental justice organisation groundWork (Friends of the Earth South Africa), and Tshediso Lekhina, a member of the Botshabelo Unemployment Movement who has been implementing the #BanFracking campaign in the Free State, offered practical guidance to participants from the Western and Eastern Cape in developing their own community-based responses.
The SCLC platform was concluded with a clear message from Karoo activists: No fracking. Not here, not anywhere.
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