Not sure if this has been picked up, a speech from Zwane earlier...

Not sure if this has been picked up, a speech from Zwane earlier this month to Parliament -

http://www.gov.za/speeches/minister...rces-dept-budget-vote-201718-16-may-2017-0000

There's a bit of text contained, so i've pulled out the points of interest. Nothing ground breaking here, just continued positive commentary coming from the Government in moving towards getting the SA gas industry off the ground.

Beaufort West as mentioned below looks to be in either Falcon or Shell's lease application area, it's a little hard to tell.

We will continue to use the regulatory tools at our disposal – the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) and Mining Charter, to drive growth and transformation in the sector.

Attracting investment and growing the sector remains one of our key focus areas. Since the announcement made at the Mining Indaba in February, of an integrated, multi-disciplinary geological mapping programme worth R20 billion over 10 years, the Council for Geoscience (CGS) has developed a plan of action to grow South Africa’s share of global exploration investment.

As part of assessing the potential of the shale gas resource, CGS and Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA) are conducting a scientific programme that will include the plan for its sustainable development. This will attract new investment in shale gas and the broader upstream petroleum sector. Three vertical shallow boreholes up to one kilometre will be drilled in Beaufort West to assess the ground water levels and movement. The Petroleum Agency is also focusing on shale gas resource evaluation and new research initiatives, which include investigating near-surface hydrocarbon occurrence. As a responsible Government, we continue to engage with communities and stakeholders and will take them along as the process unfolds.

Let's hope Billy Zwane gets the final version of the MPRA into the next sitting of parliament to be voted on and enacted into legislation.