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Government has received five applications from three companies seeking permission to explore for shale gas in the Karoo, have been received by government.
Mineral Resources Minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, says applications were received from Falcon Oil and Gas, Shell Exploration Company, and Bundu Gas and Exploration.
The minister said in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Thursday that a detailed assessment of the applications to determine the extent of their compliance with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act had not been done.
"The MPRDA provides for the minister to grant applications if they comply, and, conversely, the applications must be refused if they do not comply."
None of the applications had been assessed, he confirmed in the reply, which was signed off on September 23.
Meanwhile, the National Nuclear Regulator says South Africa has concluded several bilateral co-operation agreements on nuclear safety during a conference in Austria.
CEO Bismark Tyobeka says a new agreement was signed with Finland, while agreements with the UK Office of Nuclear Regulation and the US Regulators Commission were renewed.
The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 58th conference in Vienna, Austria.
