Environmentalism Emboldened? Exploring the Effectiveness of Anti-Fracking Groups in the Fracking Struggle in the Karoo of South Africa, 2008–2022

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2008, the South African government started to discuss the possibility of utilising shale gas in the energy mix to produce cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable electricity. Shale gas was to be used as a ‘bridge fuel’ in the envisaged transition to renewables. Since 2010, anti-fracking groups and other environmentalists have been at loggerheads with the state and fracking companies. This paper focuses on the effectiveness and role of anti-fracking groups and the wider environmentalism apparatus to stall fracking plans. Data for this paper is based on qualitative research in the Central Karoo between 2019 and 2022. Fieldwork involved in-depth interviews with various stakeholders, observation, documentary study, critical engagement with literature, case law and media analysis. Although the previous literature demonstrated limited power of anti-fracking groups, these groups have set boundaries and gained strides in frustrating fracking processes and conscientising communities about the dangers of fracking. Using the case of fracking, I argue that environmentalists in South Africa have been emboldened by the legal precedents they have created at courts, the secretive and elusive culture of the state, and the global dynamics against fossil fuels, especially in 2021 onwards. If it were not for their activism, fracking would have started earlier. Environmentalists have also been emboldened by global awareness of carbon emissions, especially in 2021. The victories by anti-fracking groups lend support for the argument that civil society movements are central in lobbying governments to embrace good governance, quality democracy and human rights and environmental protection.