SA Fracking “Mr No” admits – the cause has personally cost him R2,5m

When deeply invested in something, it’s sometimes hard to find perspective. Something which might be driving tireless Jonathan Deal, CEO of the Treasure Karoo Action Group.  Deal told me in the CNBC Africa interview that he has injected R2.5m of his own funds into the NGO – an investment which may be clouding his judgment. But watch the interview or read the transcript and make up your own mind.  – AH

GUGULETHU MFUPHI:  The ruling party plans to increase its stake in Shell ahead of its fracking plans.  Jonathan Deal, Chief Executive of Treasure Karoo Action Group joins us now on the line for more.  Jonathan, you have been very vocal about your concerns with regard to the ANC’s involvement with the Shell fracking operations.  Perhaps you can highlight these for us.

JONATHAN DEAL:  I think that if one looks at the relationship that Shell has traditionally had with the ANC (and the ANC with Shell), it’s placing the ANC particularly as the party that’s making a decision or the government that’s making a decision on fracking in the role of player as well as referee.  That’s one of our concerns.  I have to reiterate to you that irrespective of the political party involved…  If they had a relationship with one of the applicants for the mining licenses, we would have the same view.  It has nothing – specifically – to do with it.

ALEC HOGG:  Jonathan, who funds you?

JONATHAN DEAL:  I beg your pardon.

ALEC HOGG:  Who funds you?  Where do you get your funding from?

JONATHAN DEAL:  Okay, nice question.  Personally, I’m in the hole for R2.5m in this issue, over four years.  That’s my personal fund.  Other than that, we have about R40, 000.00 in the bank, as of today and we do have a very strong alliance with Afriforum who will take this matter to court.  They will pick up the millions of Rands that it will cost to get this through the Constitutional Court.  Essentially, that’s a snapshot of our funding.

ALEC HOGG:  So you’re in the hole you say, for R2.5m personally.

JONATHAN DEAL:  Yes.

ALEC HOGG:  Why?  Why do you do this?

JONATHAN DEAL:  It ran away from me at the beginning.  I didn’t understand the scope of this fight when I got into it four years ago – literally four years ago, this week.  Once I (and the number of volunteers around the country) had committed time and effort, I just didn’t have the motivation and morally, I couldn’t just walk away from it.  I put in about R1m of my personal funds and all off my Goldman prize money from the United States, which was worth about R1.4m, once it was converted into the PKG Trust account, and that’s been used.

ALEC HOGG:  One gets your concern about the ANC, but fracking as a whole has transformed the global economy.  Many people all over the world have benefitted considerably from it.  In particular, we’re seeing the lower oil price now.  Are you against fracking per se or is it just the way its conducted?

JONATHAN DEAL:  I have to disagree with you when you say it’s transformed the global economy as well as that many people have benefitted from it.  In the last few weeks, both New York State and Quebec Province in Canada in the same week, amongst other countries like France, Bulgaria, Scotland, Germany, and the Netherlands have banned it.  The Netherlands hasn’t banned it, but I’ll get back to that now.  Only two reasons were cited by the Americans and the Canadians (Quebec Province) when they banned it.  One was the medical concerns and the risk of pollution.  The other was that it had failed to prove itself as a viable economic activity.  What we have seen across the United States now is that the average shale gas well, even in the sweet spots – the very best recovery areas in the shale gas play – is that leaping to sub-economic level in less than three years.

This makes a lie of what we’ve been told in South Africa, of 10-15 years production from a shale gas well.  It’s not proven and if you look at energy return on energy investment, with this being essentially, a financial TV channel (as I understand it, anyway)…

ALEC HOGG:  I’m sorry, Jonathan.

JONATHAN DEAL:  Shale gas is at the bottom of the pile.

ALEC HOGG:  We’re going to have to leave it there, but you are in a minority in this, I can assure you.  The rest of the world believes that because of fracking, we have a lower oil price and I can assure you that with the $2trn just in subsidies alone that\s going to be pumped back into the system, lots of people are going to benefit.  Jonathan Deal does have his point of view.  As he told us, he’s been doing it for four years.  He’s put R2.5m of his own money into the Treasure Karoo Action Group.  He’s a man on a mission. Well that’s all.

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