JOHANNESBURG - Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe is pushing for oil and gas to be produced in South Africa.
The groundwork has been done.
He says government is going to request proposals to explore shale gas in the Karoo.
"Our transition is going to be sustainable if we access oil and gas on our shores," he said.
"We are going to issue a request for proposals to explore that gas now."
Discussing rolling blackouts, Mantashe also offered up a simple solution.
"The solution of load-shedding is not with renewables. It's with units in Eskom that are connected but not giving us energy," he said.
"That is what we should put our heads together and push for. If we do that I can tell you that we can resolve the issue of load-shedding."