Assessing the existing knowledge base and opinions of decision makers on the regulation and monitoring of unconventional gas mining in South Africa

Abstract

A policy vacuum exists in relation to the exploration and mining of unconventional gas in South Africa, with a recent survey showing that 86% of the respondents did not know what hydraulic fracturing entails. We conducted a study to determine the opinion of decision makers involved in formulating policy and regulating mining activities related to shale gas mining in South Africa, as this was not covered in the aforementioned survey. Our results demonstrate that the regulation of shale gas mining in South Africa is viewed as extremely important and identifies possible regulatory and monitoring tools to assist in governing this activity.