The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced the discovery of gas reserves in Amersfoort, Mpumalanga province this past week. Welcoming the find the Department said Kinetiko Energy, an Australian gas explorer that focuses on commercialising advanced shallow conventional gas and coal bed methane projects, confirmed the discovery of 3.1 billion cubic feet of maiden gas reserves. Natural gas forms part of the energy mix envisaged in the Integrated Resource Plan, South Africa's blueprint policy for electricity generation. The department says gas provides the flexibility necessary to run the country's current electricity generation system in a cost-effective manner. Environmental groups are however not happy with this discovery and have highlighted the negative polluting effects fossil fuels have on efforts to protect the environment and limit climate change. We spoke to Leanne Govindsamy from Centre for Environmental Rights on the matter.