The anti-fracking lobby group, Treasure Karoo Action Group, says pronouncements by the Finance Minister on funding for fracking, represents a double-edged sword.
On Wednesday, Minister Nhlanhla Nene, allocated R108 million for preparations for shale gas mining and research.
Commenting, TKAG's Director of Operations, Jeannie le Roux, says to some extent it's good that government realises how much still needs to be done and how little is understood about fracking before the country's in a position to consider allowing hydraulic fracturing.
"On the other hand two of the applicants are already submitting their final environmental management plans in support of fracking exploration licenses this month and regulations have already been drafted. Ideally regulations would be based on science and in this case it definitely did not take that course of action." says le Roux,
Le Roux told Algoa FM News that they also want clarity from the Minister on what the money will be used for.
"We are in the process of drafting communication to the Minister to enquire about the nature of the items on the budget that will be addressed via this funding and what this funding is ultimately for."
Meanwhile, Jonathan Deal, CEO of Treasure Karoo Action Group called it a "double edged sword".
"On the one hand, it is encouraging to see that the Department realises the enormous amount of work and research that needs to be conducted before South Africa would be in a position to even consider shale gas exploration and production. On the other hand, our government appears to be ignoring international developments around shale gas which are showing documented negative impacts on communities, the fiscus and the environment." said Deal.
Deal says that "Shale gas is also not proving to be the economic game-changer other countries were hoping for. In the light of this, we are battling to understand why government is spending so much time and resources on pushing this issue, when they are only starting to embark on research now. It is a little late in the game to start with research now - when two applicants are submitting their final environmental management plans (EMPs) and could be receiving exploration rights soon. Regulations have also already been drafted. Good legislation and regulations must be informed by research. This is not the case with shale gas. In many respects the government has failed dismally to properly manage the process since 2011."
