Shale Gas in South Africa: Energy Discourse and the Making and Governing of Resources
Creators: name: Hemingway, Jack
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2024
Subjects: Energy transition
Groundwater governance
Shale gas
South Africa
Geo-imaginaries

description: This thesis is a study of the issues involved in the development of shale
 gas resources in South Africa, and of the challenges of implementing
 policies which have interconnected political, social, ecological, and
 economic implications. This research explores how shale gas narratives are
 shaped and used by the various stakeholders involved, and analyses the
 governance arrangements which would be necessary if shale gas exploitation
 at scale is to be realised, taking as a specific example that of
 groundwater governance. This research is intended to be relevant to
 various stakeholders, and to inform their decision-making processes 
 
 and policy-implementation.
 
 
 This thesis consists of three papers, each addressing a specific aspect of
 the shale debate, together with an introduction, a literature review, an
 account of methodology, and a conclusion.
 
 
 Paper 1 is an exploration of the contested role of shale gas in South
 Africa’s “Just Energy Transition”, based on an analysis of the
 perspectives of the Commissioners of the Presidential Climate Commission.
 Using document analysis and interviews, the research identifies areas of
 consensus and dispute regarding the role of shale gas among key
 stakeholders, and draws out the particular interpretations of justice that
 they mobilise. The analysis reveals that the principles of restorative,
 distributive, and procedural justice feature prominently in the national
 energy transition narrative, but that there remain significant differences
 in approach to gas policy, and the interpretations of the principles of
 justice in the just energy transition.
 
 
 Paper 2 focuses on the use of resource estimates from the perspective of
 critical resource geography, and examines the deployment of
 resource-making practices and geo-imaginaries in the shaping of the
 national shale gas discourse; this paper draws on government documents,
 the media, and interviews to evaluate this specific aspect of evolving
 shale narratives. Key findings include the continued use of high-end shale
 gas resource estimates in government geo-imaginaries, that are identified
 as a significant factor in resource-making 
 
 narratives. Further, it is argued that existing and imperfect data is
 being repackaged as new research, to maintain the preferred geo-imaginary
 narratives of the gatekeepers of geo-scientific knowledge, and to justify
 the continued mobilisation of state resources.
 
 
 Paper 3 analyses the multiple dimensions of groundwater governance
 relating to the development of unconventional oil and gas in South Africa,
 their complexity and adequacy. Based on interviews and stakeholder
 engagement, the research explores the roles of stakeholders, of policies,
 and of legislation, in the particular context of South Africa. Key
 findings include: 1) the need for continued stakeholder engagement, and
 follow-through on the outcomes of these processes; 2) the necessity for
 detailed groundwater-specific regulations to be drafted at the earliest
 opportunity; 3) the prevalence of significant governance gaps,
 particularly regarding regulatory and institutional capacity.
 
 
 This thesis contributes to wider debates about shale gas by providing an
 analytical appraisal of the politics of resource-making, governance and
 decision-making in the under-examined context of South Africa within its
 particular geographic and political setting. Through a mixed
 methodological approach, areas of contemporary policy debate are
 identified, and by expanding on the critical geographies literature, a
 unique insight into South Africa’s shale 
 
 dialogue is provided. By expanding these theoretical approaches and
 examining direct governance implications, the thesis offers a detailed
 evaluation of shale gas policy and groundwater governance in South Africa.