The government will face court action should it issue Karoo shale gas exploration licences to companies based on their existing environmental impact plans, said Jonathan Deal, head of Treasure the Karoo Action Group.
"The environmental impact plans of the companies have one fatal flaw - that of public consultations," Deal told the Cape Town Press Club yesterday.
Deal made it clear his group would institute court action should the licences be awarded and said there were others who would probably join in such an action.
Three major oil companies have applied for permission to use hydraulic fracking in the Karoo. They are Shell, Bundu Gas and Oil, and Falcon Oil & Gas.
Fracking involves the use of up to a million litres of water to fracture the rock and pumping in of chemicals to create a gel that forces the shale gas to flow. The chemical compound makes up 1% of the total volume pumped into the wells.
Four earthquakes in the US state of Ohio on New Year's eve led to a suspension of fracking there.
Last year, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu placed a moratorium on fracking exploration applications and set up a team to investigate the matter.
According to Deal, the team is "light on scientific expertise".
"The minister has asked a task team to complete work in 12 months that it is taking the US four years to do," he said.
Documents indicated there was some confusion within the team about its mandate.
Deal's main point, however, was that communication with the communities in the Karoo that would be most affected was poor. He criticised Shabangu for this.
The government had relied on the big companies with vested interests to handle communications through their public hearings, he said.
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