Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has revealed that final fracking regulations are being consolidated.

Draft regulations regarding fracking were published in October last year, followed by a period for public comment. Concerned parties submitted extensive documents backing up their arguments for and against fracking, and Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has led an inter-ministerial committee focusing on these public comments and inputs to the draft regulations.

Molewa says the regulations are now ready to be consolidated. “We’re looking at finalising the regulations. We need some guiding principles. The next step would be who does the exploration,” she said.

Molewa said the final regulations would guide government on the exploration of shale gas and stressed that the exploration stage would identify problems and that the government would take water and environmental concerns into account, Engineering News reported. The controversial shale gas exploration in the Karoo has been met with opposition by some concerned about air and water pollution as well as putting stress on the water-scarce area’s water supplies.

“We see fracking as helping the country to deal with carbon emissions reductions. While working within the environmental considerations, if we find shale gas, we do think it will be a gamechanger for the country,” says Molewa.