Awesome African autumn for 21 Club

MELLOW autumn shades and animal prints blended well in the decor as well as the dress code at the June luncheon of the 21 Club.

Almost 90 guests and members enjoyed the chilly day which was about as wintery as Toti gets.

Environmental issues were once again the focus. Many thanks to guest speaker, Wendy Forse of the Mtunzini Conservancy, who came out blazing against the practise of ‘fracking’.

Wendy was born in Kenya. The family moved to the UK when she was nine, but soon settled in South Africa. They ran trading stores in the Ixopo area and Wendy matriculated at Ixopo High. She obtained an honours degree in Geography from the University of Cape Town.

Wendy has worked as a regional and rural planner, first for the Natal Provincial Administration, then for the KwaZulu-Natal Administration and latterly as a consultant for a company in the private sector.

A slide presentation featuring graphs and statistics backed up Wendy’s interesting talk. This is best summed up by the fracking facts provided by the Midlands Conservancies Forum.

• Fracking is short for ‘hydraulic fracturing’
• Shale rock formations trap gas between the layers
• Wells can be 5km deep and extend for one to 3km horizontally
• Sand and chemicals are pumped into the well under high pressure
• This creates cracks in the rocks, releasing the gas
• Shale gas is an unconventional fossil fuel
• Each well uses between 6 and 25 million litres of water
• Each well uses up to 150,000kgs of sand
• Chemicals include: Arsenic, chlorides, radon, benzene
• The waste water is contaminated by chemicals
• Each well is mined for three to six years
• Jobs are short term
• Extensive roads and pipelines are laid around wells
• Germany, France, Scotland, New York State have banned fracking
• Methane is a by-product of fracking
• Methane is more harmful than carbon dioxide for climate changes
• South African landowners do not own the mineral rights to their property
• Sungu Sungu and Rhino Oil and Gas hold the hydraulic fracturing concession for KwaZulu-Natal
• This concession lies along the Drakensberg, where rivers start

No wonder the final statement is: ‘No mining the KZN Midlands’.

Thanks to Lords and Legends Greg, who picked up on the earlier fuss about fracking in the Karoo and gave everyone a tasty Karoo lamb roast and trimmings and a comforting dessert of apple crumble and cream.

Thanks again to Carol McPhail for donating the beautiful handbag which was raffled. Leonie Mills was the lucky winner. The R950 raised was presented by Carol to Jona Vaughan’s manager, Fiona Anderson. The market day hamper was won by Shirley Coulter and two guests, Janet Linde and Julie Sutherland, won the lovely consolation prizes. The charity to benefit will be decided at the next luncheon.

The Christmas in July luncheon will be held on Wednesday, 27 July at noon for 12.30pm. Members are asked to be prompt. Decor colours are purple and silver. Guest speaker is Peter Court, a much-loved friend of 21 Club. The club looks forward to his talk on his varied history in the world of theatre.

Members are reminded that confirmation of intention to attend or not, and names of guests, must be received by any of these committee members by Friday, 22 July: Lyn on 082-572-1328 or 031-903-4026; Golda on 083-633-6338 or 031-916-7001 and Gwyn on 072-223-3009 or 031-903-3126. Unfortunately, guests can only be accommodated if there is room.

 
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