Western Cape ANC leader and businessman Chris Nissen has come out in support of the controversial proposal to drill for shale gas in the Karoo.

Shell has reportedly applied to drill for natural gas in three areas in the Karoo totalling 90000km². This has been met with resistance by Karoo residents and environmental lobbyists Karoo Action Group.

Nissen announced his support for fracking at a Cape Town Press Club breakfast addressed by Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu yesterday.

"People speak about the Karoo and they say: 'We don't want anything in our Karoo', but the voices of the majority of people in the Karoo are being ignored," he said.

"Even the comments they make in consultation forums hardly reach the broad public and the media."

Nissen, the former deputy speaker of the Western Cape legislature, said residents of Beaufort West, Graaff-Reinet, Sutherland and neighbouring areas formed the Karoo Shale Gas Community Forum, which supports fracking. He said the forum gave him a mandate to speak on its behalf.

"They said: 'Tell them there is a different view'. It's a view that says: 'We will support exploration for gas in the Karoo in a responsible and a well-balanced manner and that we will hold anybody accountable, including the government'," Nissen said.

Shabangu said she would consult widely and that she had extended the moratorium on prospecting by six months. She had received the first reports of the team investigating fracking.