The government has suggested that fracking could be the answer to the country's energy needs.

While some experts have said that natural gas could be worth R11.2-billion to the economy and could create as many as 30000 jobs, environmental and lobby groups warn that it could severely affect water quality, damage farms and destroy tourism.

While the exploration, by Rhino Resources, is for a desktop study - meaning that no actual fracking or physical exploration for gas deposits will take place at this stage - environmentalists warn that it could be the first step to seeing mining go ahead.

In separate applications, the company has also applied to conduct exploration in an area covering an estimated 40% of KwaZulu-Natal. Phillip Steyn, CEO of Rhino Oil and Gas, the South African arm of Rhino Resources, said application 158TCP - which was approved by the Petroleum Agency of SA - would allow the company to study the entire area "to assess the prospectivity from all available existing data".

TCP stands for "technical co-operation permit", and does not grant permission for physical prospecting.

"As this is only a desktop study there are no environmental concerns," said Steyn.