The Editor’s Desk: The Total gas strike will change SA forever

DUBLIN — In a week dominated by Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address (SONA), another explosive piece of news hit the headlines: Total have struck a major oil and gas deposit off the Southern Cape. As a net oil importer, South Africa has long sought its own oil and gas deposits, but after the fracking debacle in the Karoo, it looked like a hopeless cause. The Total discovery changes all that. With a billion barrels of oil equivalent, the deposit could transform SA's energy future – especially if it encourages more exploration and development. Alec Hogg and I discuss the implications of this discovery and what it means for SA's future. We also dive deep into the strange story of Jeff Bezos' compromising selfies. Bezos broke the internet this week with a blog post detailing what appears to be an extortion attempt by Trump cronies at the National Enquirer, who threatened to embarrass the billionaire if he doesn't retract accusations of politically motivated meddling by the tabloid. Suffice it to say Bezos decided that the best defence is a good offence, with explosive results. Alec and I muse on the wisdom of trying to blackmail the world's richest man. – Felicity Duncan

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of The Editor's Desk. I'm Felicity Duncan and with me, as always, Alec Hogg. Well, Alec, there is only piece of news, as far as we're concerned this week, and that is the very exciting Total gas strike. Now, this is a big company. This is a serious company and that makes this big and serious news. Give us a little bit of background and tell us what you think this could mean for SA?

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