Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum objects to regulations that want to give the green light to fracking

Marais de Vaal (English)

AfriForum maintains that the proposed regulations that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment present as a guarantee to effectively regulate the environmental impact of fracking, create an illusion of environmental conservation to silence critics. This while the government persists in its plans for the development of this highly controversial industry. These are some of the comments that the civil rights organisation made today in its formal objection to the draft regulations.

Currently, the moratorium on fracking that was introduced in 2014 is still in force. AfriForum warns that if the moratorium were to be lifted by the implementation of the draft regulations, it could lead to the irrevocable destruction of limited water resources. This is because the government does not have the capacity to enforce the regulations in the first place. In addition, there are significant flaws in the regulations, which further demonstrates that the government should fulfil its constitutional duty to prevent damage to the environment, rather than establish a risky new industry.

A key concern is the impact of fracking on water security. While the draft regulations place restrictions on the use of potable water sources, prescribe requirements for the design of wells, and establish requirements for the handling of fracking fluids and wastewater to limit the risk of pollution, their application is based on the assumption that the various authorities that are required to oversee these processes will cooperate effectively and have the capacity to enforce the regulations. If these requirements are not strictly applied and pollution occurs, the consequences could be potentially irreversible, and it is therefore unacceptable to accept this risk in a water-scarce country.

“South Africa’s record on environmental law enforcement in the mining sector does not inspire confidence. On the contrary, applications for environmental approvals are characterised by chronic administrative delays, while authorities repeatedly fail to act against polluters and ignore non-compliance with licencing conditions. To allow an extremely risky activity against this backdrop is reckless,” explains Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s Advisor on Environmental Affairs.

AfriForum believes that it would be irrational and unconstitutional to implement the draft regulations under these circumstances and will consider further legal action to prevent fracking from taking place.

AfriForum’s comments on proposed fracking regulations Download